


Leaf's Finest

by Rhiw



Series: A Different Path [4]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alpha Uchiha Sasuke, Alpha/Alpha, Alpha/Beta, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Omega, Because they're like 12, Beta/Beta, Beta/Omega, Canon-Typical Violence, Child Soldiers, Except for the older kids, F/F, F/M, Gen, Jinchuuriki have issues, Kakashi Hatake is an unwillingly decent teacher, Kiba is the best bro, Kid Fic, M/M, Ninja have skewed morals, Omega Uchiha Itachi, Omega Uzumaki Naruto, Omega/Omega, Protective Hatake Kakashi, Protective Uchiha Sasuke, Slow Burn, THEY LOVE WHO THEY LOVE, Teenagers falling in love, Time line change, Umino Iruka Adopts Uzumaki Naruto, because of course they would, grey morality, no sakura bashing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-19
Updated: 2021-02-12
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:47:52
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 5
Words: 19,513
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24806449
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rhiw/pseuds/Rhiw
Summary: Not that Hatake Iruka would ever would know it, but his arrival in the village all those years go irreparably changed the face of the Leaf forever. A clan heir stolen, marriages arranged, a mystical tree planted, clans decimated and strengthened. The balance of power is shifting in the village, with the Hatake at the epicenter of it all. Not everyone is happy about it and it'll be their children that will face of the brunt of it all. But that's okay; he and Kakashi raised them to be strong. Naruto in particular isn't afraid. He's ready to show the whole village just how strong the Hatake Clan is. Believe it.
Relationships: Fuu (Naruto)/Aburame Torune, Gekkou Hayate/Uzuki Yuugao, Hatake Kakashi/Umino Iruka, Maito Gai | Might Guy/Mitarashi Anko, Namiashi Raidou/Shiranui Genma, Other Relationship Tags to Be Added, Sarutobi Asuma/Yamato | Tenzou, Shibuki/Uchiha Itachi, Uchiha Sasuke/Uzumaki Naruto
Series: A Different Path [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1574530
Comments: 142
Kudos: 610





	1. Prologue: Team Arrangements

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I live! Sorry for the radio silence, it's been a shitty time in America. Had to get a second job for a while with the virus and everything. Got laid off for a bit, rehired, laid off again, rehired, and hopefully will stay that way. If we go on another serious lock down though, my job is toast. Here's the prologue and the last bit (for a while, most likely) from Iruka's point of view.

Iruka stared at the list of names, chewing on his bottom lip. It wasn’t terribly late, but late enough for a school night, and Iruka really should be in bed by now. His husband was already, Kakashi exhausted after a long mission and a night of intense tantrums from Miwa regarding her TV time. The whole house asleep, actually, save for Itachi.

However it seemed that even his stalwart grading companion was starting to feel the late hour as Itachi shut his grade book and started gathering his marked papers into a neat pile. “Iruka-senpai, I’m done.”

“That’s good,” the older Omega acknowledged distractedly, eyes still staring at the inked list of names, “sleep well.”

Itachi’s head cocked slightly to the side as his face turned towards him. “Senpai, aren’t you going to come to bed as well?”

“Huh? Oh, no. Not just yet, thank you Itachi-kun. I need to work on this some more.” At the silence that followed that declaration, Iruka glanced up. He almost blushed to find Itachi watching him, sightless eyes knowing.

“I thought you and Ryoji-senpai had already finalized the team placements with the Hokage. Are they not already approved?”

“Ah…” Iruka cleared his throat in embarrassment, “yes, we did. I just…want to make sure there hasn’t been any mistakes.”

“Do you think you’ve made one? Or that the Hokage-sama or Ryoji-senpai have?”

Iruka sighed, shoulders hunching. “…no.”

Itachi hummed thoughtfully. “Then I think, that you should go to bed.” When Iruka didn’t move, Itachi shook his head. “Iruka-senpai, you’ve gone over that list a thousand times before you even presented it.”

“I know have, I'm being unreasonable, I know.” Iruka grumbled, “it’s just…”

"I understand.” Itachi agreed with a nod, reaching out to stroke Taichi’s sleeping belly. The grizzled nin-turned-seeing-eye dog snorted in his sleep. “It’s the boys' team and you want it to be right, and I appreciate the effort you’re making on Sasuke-kun’s – and Naruto-kun’s – behalf, but I think you should set it down. It does makes me feel much more confident knowing that you’ve put so much thought into it, though.”

Itachi was being sweet and trying to placate Iruka; Iruka that he knew he was being slightly ridiculous about all of this. Honestly, Iruka was supposed to be impartial about the whole thing, but even he could admit he’d thought longer and harder about team placements this year then he’d ever done before. He cared deeply for both Sasuke and Naruto, loved them like they were his own sons, and he _did_ want their team to be perfect. But it wasn’t just that, Iruka thought quietly to himself as he watched the raven haired teen make his way down the bedroom hallway, Taichi yawning loudly behind him. It wasn’t just the concern of a parent that was making him doubt his placements. Because this team wasn’t _just_ going to be Naruto and Sasuke’s team.

It was also going to be Kakashi’s too.

Not that anyone in the house knew it but him, and it was a secret that had taken every inch of Iruka’s willpower to keep to himself. Iruka glanced back down at the list and his own tidy writing stared back at him innocently. Iruka had (perhaps naively) hoped that his class may try and hold off, perhaps aim for the graduation that would take place next year or the year after. And of course, those who failed would still remain in his class to do just that or eventually age out of the Academy all together. And while it was the majority of his class had chosen not to take the test this year or failed it, arguably the most talented students were graduating this year. It seemed that whatever had driven Sasuke and Naruto to take the test this year had lit a fire with the other clan children and most of the heirs had passed. And really, despite Iruka's concerns the teams were solid and the students that passed ready.

_Team 10: Akimichi Chōji, Nara Shikamaru, and Yamanaka Ino. Instructor: Shiranui Genma._

This team was of little surprise; these three clans had a tradition of having their heirs in the same year so they could be put on the same Genin team, a tradition that had been in place since the founding of the village. It was of also no surprise that Ino had decided she was ready to graduate once she realized that Sasuke was slated to; she was one of his most vivacious fangirls and despite the rather accepted knowledge she'd end up with Shikamaru and Chōji, Iruka knew she hoped to end up on Sasuke's team. It was more surprising that both Shikamaru and Chōji had actually applied themselves, though Iruka knew it most likely had more to do with the pressure their respective fathers put on them to pass with Ino then any actual want.

Genma had been a shock when his name had popped up in the instructor pool for this year’s class. But again, maybe not so much; he and Raidō were both in the final stages of their adoption process, getting ready to actually pick a child to take home. It made sense that both would leave ANBU (not that Iruka ever, at any time, had any knowledge that they were both in the Corp). He knew that Raidō had recently taken on a job as the Hokage’s body guard which would keep him in the village indefinitely unless the Hokage chose to leave it, leaving one parent at home for their future child at all times.

It would be a solid team, the Ino-Shiki-Chō trio almost always was. And Genma would be good for them; his sense of humor meant that he wouldn’t immediately kill Ino for her fangirl-ness or Shikamaru for his innate laziness. And his history as an ANBU meant that he had the spine to beat both out of them if needed. But Genma was also able to be soft; after all, he’d befriended Shibuki right off the bat, even back when Shibuki had been a fickle, fearful thing. Which was what a gentle and shy boy like Chōji needed. And Genma’s training in T&I was aligned perfectly with this team that had so many clan talents geared towards Games and Theory.

_Team 8: Hyūga Hinata, Inuzuka Kiba, and Yanagikage Noriko. Instructor: Yūhi Kurenai._

Team 8 had a strong chance to be a good tracking team between Hinata and Kiba’s clan techniques, and had Shino still been - but no, Iruka quickly pushed that thought away. Noriko, with the Yanagikage clan’s specialty with concealed and multi-discipline weapon’s approach, would be a strong mid-to-long range fighter for a team with two short range fighters on it. All three of them were rather immature, though. As much as Iruka loved Kiba – who was practically another one of Iruka's children for the amount of time he spent around the Hatake compound – Iruka knew this was especially true for the young Beta. He was brash and a little too much like Naruto in the sense that he tended to run face first into trouble without any thought to tactics. And Hinata was painfully shy and meek; any skill she had was buried deep enough under her anxiety and stage fright. She needed a steady hand to build her confidence up enough for them to come out. As for Noriko – well, her obsession with Sasuke was only eclipsed by two others in Iruka’s class. The diet fad was a good example of this, something that Noriko, Ino, and Haruno Sakura all were following religiously despite Iruka's best efforts to convince them otherwise. It took impressive willpower to stick to Iruka knew, as they had to be starving constantly with how many calories they burned in training.

Kurenai would be a perfect instructor for this team and not just for her own skill and history with tracking and retrieval. Given who his mother and older sister were, it should be no surprise that Kiba tended to listen and respond to instructions from women better than men. And Kurenai had once been a very shy young woman herself, from what Iruka understood, so hopefully she be able to help Hinata with her confidence. Given that Kurenai was widely considered a strong, determined, and well-respected ninja (who always ate healthy but wholly to what her needs required), he hoped that Kurenai would also be able to whip Noriko into shape. There was real talent under all the Alpha-crazy that seemed to rule the young Yanagikage. And, perhaps most importantly, Kurenai had been eagerly waiting a team for a few years now. She was invested, she would force them to work and develop together if necessary.

_Team 7: Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke, Uzumaki Naruto. Instructor: Hatake Kakashi._

Iruka let out a nervous breath. Team 7, should it work, would make some powerful front line hard hitters. Putting Sasuke and Naruto together was a no-brainer; the two acted as foils for each other, keeping both in line while also baiting the other into the appropriate action when necessary. Where Sasuke often over thought, Naruto rushed right in. Where Naruto tended to punch first, Sasuke held back and asked the important questions. And they already trusted each other implicitly. And Sakura – well, her unfortunate fangirl obsession with Sasuke aside, she was a brilliant mind and had all the makings of a future tactician. She helped round them out, balanced the trio in a way that was necessary with two brash and strong-willed teammates on it, and could provide a less emotive driven response then either boys. Iruka could only hope that she wouldn't just follow along with whatever Sasuke said in hopes of gaining his favor. Maturity for her would come with time, or at least that’s what Iruka hoped.

But Kakashi…

Kakashi with a Genin team, one carefully constructed so that he was unable to fail it, so he wouldn't _want_ to fail them. With both Naruto _and_ Sasuke on his team, Kakashi would be hard press to send them back to the Academy unless they truly deserved it this time. Not that the teams he’d failed in the past didn’t necessarily deserve to do the extra year, but it was a well-known fact that being assigned to Kakashi as a Jōnin instructor was almost a guarantee fail.

But the Alpha was really the only ninja in the village with the appropriate skill set to take on Team 7. With the only working sharingan, Kakashi was the only real viable candidate to teach Sasuke. And with Tenzō already assigned to a team with a jinchūriki (though they were currently being instructed by Asuma given his advanced pregnancy, a fact that had ruffled the council's feathers - the thought of Fū without someone would could bind her at will - and was only soothed by the hopeful advancement of Tenzō's bloodline), Kakashi’s sharingan was the next best shot at controlling Naruto should he ever lose control. Kakashi was already familiar with how Sasuke and Naruto worked, with their strengths and weaknesses, and with Sakura…

Iruka faltered.

Well, he hoped that Kakashi would actually engage with Sakura. She needed a strong hand to guide her away from her juvenile tendencies and ignite her work ethic and competitiveness. She also needed a Jōnin instructor smart enough to challenge and not fall to her manipulations. Because Sakura, despite how cute and sweet her coloring and small frame made her look, was manipulative as hell. She knew how to get what she wanted and if Sakura wasn't so hampered by that dreaded preteen lack of confidence, she'd be more then a little scary.

Kakashi was more than capable of doing that for her. If he didn’t just chose to ignore Sakura, that was. Which was…which was a very real possibility, Iruka admitted morosely to himself. But if that was the case, Iruka would just have to step in and correct it.

If...if his mate let him and wasn't completely furious with him for agreeing to this set up in the first place.

But really, _not_ having Kakashi take on Team 7 had never really been an option. While they’d never spoken about it, Iruka hoped that Kakashi was aware of this possibility on his own. His husband had never been shy in vocalizing his distaste and lack of want to teach a Genin team, nor was he even remotely apologetic for the students he’d failed in the past. Iruka knew much of it was tangled in Kakashi’s insecurities surrounding his own Genin team's demise, deeply held traumas and grief that had never really gone away. While it was never brought up nor discussed, Iruka was aware of just how much time his mate spent at the memorial stone. Though it had decreased drastically with Iruka’s arrival in his life and their mating, it was still more than was probably healthy. He could only hope that Kakashi wouldn’t feel trapped by this arrangement. He could be like a angry cat when forced to do things against his will, able to sabotage and self-sabotage like the best of them to avoid and escape those situations.

Iruka shook his head, finally tucking the list away into his teaching portfolio and standing. He flicked off the living room light, almost trembling with unease as he made his way into their bedroom. For a moment he simply gazed at his sleeping mate’s form before crawling into bed next to him. Iruka pressed a kiss to his Alpha’s shoulder, well aware that by morning a missive with the dread orange wrapping that denoted a Genin assignment would arrive at their doorstep.

Iruka could only hope this wouldn’t end in disaster.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope to have the next chapter up by later tonight or tomorrow. This story will mainly be from Naruto's POV, but will also have Shibuki and Fū.


	2. Team 7, Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay.
> 
> Okay, so you know. It's later than I said it would be. By like, a lot. I'm so sorry! Forgive this terrible author! Also, be aware that pre-teen children suck, especially when it comes to bullying (I was bullied and a pre-teen girl, so I consider myself an expert on this), so some of Naruto's classmates are just as terrible as they are in the anime. This is not a Sakura bashing fic at all, I actually like her as a character (the stupid end game romances aside, which I don't even care that they're not my favorite otps, straight, lgbtq+ or not, like - they just seem so slapped on at the last moment).

“Get out of my room, dumbass.”

Naruto rolled his eyes at the surly tone and threw himself onto the bed, sprawling ungraciously over the covered form. He grinned when his friend let out a ragged sounding _oomph._ “No.”

A pale hand appeared from the nest of covers, as fast as a snake’s strike as it smacked blindly at his face. Naruto grunted when it smashed against his nose. “Ouch!” Naruto leaned back, sitting up atop Sasuke’s form, the heel of his hand rubbing at his nose petulantly. “What the hell was that for, you bastard?”

“Leave.” Sasuke seethed, a single dark eye glaring at him from beneath the kunai themed duvet. Naruto just crossed his arms, glaring down at his friend with a pout. Sasuke let out a muted growl of warning, “Naruto. Go. Away.”

“But, Sasuke!” Naruto whined, leaning heavily back down, elbows digging maliciously into Sasuke’s back. “I can’t sleep. Ne, ne, Sasuke, aren’t you excited at all? We’re getting our team placements tomorrow!”

A series of muttered curses answered him.

Naruto let out a loud sound of disbelief, something that was a mix of a sputtering noise and a breath of exasperation. “Come on, Sasuke. It’s our Genin teams – it changes _everything._ I mean, man, this is like serious, serious – like, the rest of our lives serious!”

Sasuke just grumbled some more, trying to turn and dislodge him with the motion. Naruto clung stubbornly, refusing to be unseated. A thought struck him suddenly and he grinned slyly down at the dark-haired boy.

“Oh. I see. I get it now.”

A suspicious eye blinked blearily up at him. “What could you possibly get, moron?”

“You don’t wanna talk about teams because you think you’re gonna get fangirls. Or fanboys. I bet you get a whole team of them. Just, every day, ‘ _oh Sasuke-kun,’”_ Naruto pitched his voice high, blinking rapidly as he curled his hands together by his hips, lips plumped together, _“‘I made you some onigiri, Sasuke-kun! Oh,_ marry _me, Sasuke-kun, I wanna have your babies Sasuke-kuuuun –_ awk!”

Naruto squeaked as he was roughly kicked off, rolling onto the floor and wincing as his head smacked loudly against the small desk’s leg.

“Stupid bastard,” Naruto muttered, rubbing his head with both hands as he glared at the pile of blankets, settled once more. “That hurt, ya know.”

_“Good.”_

Naruto’s brows scrunched together. “You’re such a jerk. I’m just trying to talk to you.”

There was an exasperated sigh and then Sasuke was sitting up, glaring down at him. He looked silly with his hair messed up and flying in all directions, a far cry from how neat and orderly he normally kept it. “Naruto, it’s two in the morning.”

“I know, I can read a clock.” If anything, Sasuke’s expression only grew more dubious. “Hey! I _can_ read a clock!”

The Alpha ignored him, rolling onto his side. Naruto let out a sigh of annoyance. Sasuke had always been like this, ever since that night. Sasuke used to be really fun, always ready to scheme and prank and laugh, but…well…Naruto guess he couldn’t really blame him for how he acted now. Naruto had never known his parents, but if he lost Iruka or Kakashi…

A silence filled the room, Naruto staring down at his dog theme pajama pants. He traced the face of one giant, smiling Great Dane in thought. He really should be asleep, Naruto knew that. But he just couldn’t, he was too nervous. Tomorrow was a big day – a huge day! – and it annoyed him to no end that Sasuke seemed to be treating it with that same stupid, uncaring attitude he did everything else. Like he was just too cool for anything to ever bother him.

Well, that was easy enough for him. Everyone liked Sasuke, even if he was a stuck-up jerk. But Naruto? No one liked Naruto, not really, no one that wasn’t family.

“What if,” he began quietly, mouth dry, “what if I’m not on a team with you or Kiba-kun? What if my teammates don’t like me?”

The _‘like everyone else doesn’t’_ hung unsaid between them.

“You worry too much. It’ll be fine.”

“That’s easy for you to say.” Naruto grumbled mulishly.

There was another bought of silence, then a deeply put-upon sigh. The covers rustled and Naruto looked up, feeling himself perk up as an arm held the blankets aloft. Naruto scrambled onto the bed quickly, aware that Sasuke’s moodiness could kick in at any moment and the offer withdrawn. He snuggled into the sleep warm fabric, toes curling in delight. Sasuke’s scent clung to the sheets, something warm and smokey, and it always filled Naruto with a sense of home, just like Iruka or Kakashi or Tenzō’s or Itachi’s did.

Still, he couldn’t quite resist poking at his friend. “You need to wash your sheets.”

Another groan and then Sasuke turned on him, pushing him resolutely towards the edge of the bed. “That’s it, get out-”

“No, no!” Naruto giggled, batting the hands away. “Besides if you make me leave, I’ll just come back.”

“…fine. Go to sleep though, you’re so annoying.”

Silence fell upon the room again, the other boy’s breathing began to even out. “…I really can’t wait for tomorrow though.”

Naruto let out a peel of muffled laughter when he suddenly found himself being smothered with a pillow. “Go to sleep, damn’t!”

“Okay, okay.” Naruto managed, pulling the pillow off and spitefully hoarding it under his head with his own. If Sasuke cared about no longer having one, he didn’t seem it as he turned with a huff, settling back down. Naruto turned onto his side, ignoring Sasuke’s growl as he burrowed into the other boy’s back. “Night, Sasuke.”

“…goodnight.”

* * *

Morning came painfully early, most likely due to the late night. Naruto blinked bleary up at the frowning form of his Uncle Tenzō, hands on his hips, his pregnant belly overly large on his slender frame. Naruto could just see the silver hair of his little brother, Kaito, sticking out from the wrap on Tenzō’s back. Naturo glanced quickly to the side but found the bed already was empty. _Traitor,_ Naruto seethed, Sasuke was probably already up and ready, the jerk.

“Naruto-kun,” Tenzō said with a sigh, brows furrowed, “get up, you’re going to be late. And on today, of all days.”

“Mah, it’ll be fine.” Naruto said, waving the concern away as he stretched. “What’s a few minutes.”

Tenzō’s brows furrowed, a shadow casting over his face and giving it an eerie quality. “…oh really, I’ll make sure that Iruka-kun knows how you feel.”

“What, no!” Naruto yelped, jumping to his feet. “I’m up, see! I’m moving, I won’t be late.”

“You better hurry then, Sasuke-kun’s already left.” Tenzō clicked his tongue as he leaned back, face fully lit once more, “you won’t even have time for breakfast at this rate.”

“What, but that’s not fair!”

“If you'd gotten up on time, you could of had breakfast and a shower.” Tenzō admonished, following him as the blond skidded from Sasuke’s room and across the hallway to his own.

“You know,” Naruto hissed, annoyed as he tried to pull his pants and shirt on at the same time, “you don’t gotta practice your oma skills on me. There’s an actual baby here.”

“Two of them, from where I’m looking.” Tenzō said dryly as he watched Naruto fall over as he tried to wrap both his legs at the same time.

 _“So mean.”_ Naruto whined, letting out a crow of victory when he finally managed securing the bandages. He rushed out the door, only to be halted a few steps out. He caught the forehead protector that his uncle tossed to him.

“Don’t want to forget that, now do you?” Tenzō asked with a smile, “not when you’ve worked so hard for it.”

“Ah, thanks.” Naruto said, grinning widely as he tied the band on. A brightly wrapped bento appeared in front of his face.

“Here, your lunch.” Naruto glanced up, smile stretching even wider at the slightly rumpled form of Sarutobi Asuma, the newest member of their family. Well, technically, Asuma was a Sarutobi being the Hokage’s kid and all, but he still lived in _their_ backyard, so if that didn’t make him an honorary Hatake than nothing else did. “I packed some extra since you missed breakfast. It’s important to keep your strength up, especially today.”

“Thanks, Asuma-oji!” Naruto crowed out, snatching the box and launching himself out the front door, completely missing the bright flush to the bearded Alpha’s face or the delighted look on Tenzō’s.

“Have a good day,” Tenzō called after him, “and wash your hands before you eat for once!”

“I know,” Naruto called back, having no real intention to do so, “try not to pop out the babies till I get back. And don’t do _adult stuff_ on my things!”

The startled squawk that followed him had him smirking. He bounded down the street, ignoring the way the crowds seemed to part like water for him. They always did that. No one ever really wanted to touch him – no one really wanted to look at him unless it was a glare. But that didn’t matter, not really. He was a Genin! He’d made it – no matter what anyone had ever said against him, Naruto had done it.

He was a _Genin._

He’d proved them all wrong, just like Iruka and Kakashi had always said he would. Yeah, it didn’t matter what the village thought, not really. He had his family, they were all that mattered. Today was going to be _great._

* * *

Naruto came skidding to a stop in front of the classroom doors just before they were closed. Ryoji-sensei was waiting for him, the ancient Beta looming like a wraith in the doorway. “Cutting it close, Uzumaki-kun. And on graduation, no less.”

Naruto gave him a meek grin, scratching at the back of his head in embarrassment. Instinct had him wanting to duck down from the intimidating man, but he knew better than to try and keep his mouth covered in any way when the principal was waiting for a response. “Ah,” Naruto let out a nervous laugh, “sorry, Ryoji-sensei. Won’t happen again.”

If possible, Ryoji’s bland look of disapproval went even blander, “most likely not, considering today is your last day.”

The class snickered behind the Beta and Naruto slunk to his seat, guiltily avoiding Iruka’s glare, though the Omega swore he could _feel_ it. This late the only seats that were available were in the front row and Naruto sank into it, acting like he was straightening his under armor to continue to avoid Iruka’s stare. After a few minutes when Iruka finally turned away, chalk scratching against the blackboard, Naruto deemed it safe enough to lean back. He sent a glare at where Sasuke was sitting behind him, hissing a quiet, “you could have woken me up, you dick.”

Sasuke coughed into his hand, the motion hiding the way his other’s little finger flicked out in insult. Naruto huffed, turning away. Well, now Sasuke had to sit with Ino and Sakura next to him, so he got what he deserved, really. Honestly, Naruto had _no_ idea how he handled his fanclub. Naruto would have stabbed himself in the Alpha's place.

Iruka cleared his throat as he turned around, ‘TEAM PLACEMENTS’ scrawled across the board in his adopted oma’s neat hand. “As of today, you all have become full-fledged Ninjas.” He gave the class a proud smile at that, before it turned into something slightly sharper. “However, remember that you’re still Genin – the tough part’s still to come. As you all know, from here on you’ll be in squads of three and carry out missions with your Jōnin instructor. The groups have been determined so the team's strengths will be balanced and be multi-dynamic. Remember to treat your new instructor and teammates with respect.”

Naruto knew all this; Iruka and Itachi had gone over this with them back home several times. Konoha Genin team were always in trios and whenever possible, with each one of the dynamics – Alpha, Beta, and Omega – placed within. It didn’t always work out that way, as there were less Alphas and Omegas than Betas, but Iruka explained in those cases they tried to make sure that there was at least one different dynamic on the team and that all Beta ones were rare.

“I wonder who’s going to be grouped with Sasuke-kun.” Ino whispered to Sakura and both girls blushed as they shot Sasuke (totally un-ninja like and blatant) stares. Seriously. No idea how Sasuke could deal with it. No wonder he was such an arrogant ass, Naruto grumbled to himself, he couldn’t even go a whole day without one of his fanclub blowing smoke up his ass. Not that Naruto was jealous or anything, that would be stupid. Why they hell would he want a ton of people stalking him? No thanks – he was totally fine with his friends.

“Now on to the assignment.” Iruka held up his clipboard and you could feel the tension in the room racket up as everyone snapped to nervous attention. Iruka read out the first team and Naruto listened intently, staring at the faded and half scuffed sticker of a strawberry on the back of the clipboard. “Team 7, Uzumaki Naruto,” Naruto crossed both of his fingers under the desk, holding his breath. _Come on, Kiba and Sasuke, Kiba and Sasuke, Kiba and Sasuke._ “Haruno Sakura,” Naruto bit his lip – that was the Beta spot, but the Alpha spot – “Uchiha Sasuke.”

Naruto let out a whoosh of relief. No Kiba, but at least he had Sasuke! He craned his head back to grin at his friend. Sasuke just rolled his eyes at his excitement, completely ignoring the smug looks of victory Sakura was sending over his shoulder at a crushed looking Ino. Naruto glance flickered from the girls to Sasuke – who was staring determinedly straight ahead. Naruto’s eyes sought out Kiba where he usually sat in the back. The Beta boy stuck his tongue out at him, scowling as he shoved his thumb down in disapproval. Naruto listened only long enough to learn where Kiba ended up before zoning out completely.

He was _so hungry._ He stared at the bento box resting between his feet, his sandals pressing against it wantonly. So hungry. Sasuke really could have woken him up, then he could have breakfast! And it had been a really big breakfast today, Naruto had seen it when he was getting ready. With toast and eggs and bacon and grilled –

Naruto yelped when something hard smacked his head roughly. He clutched at it, staring wide eyed up at a fuming Iruka. The clip board was pointed threatenly at him. “Naruto-kun! Pay attention, these are important guidelines!”

“Y-Yes, Iruka-sensei!” Naruto slapped his hands together in apology as he bowed his head, “sorry, Iruka-sensei!”

* * *

“Ma,” Naruto whined, leaning heavily on the teacher’s desk, giving the best wounded look he could up muster at his oma, the one that usually got Pakkun scraps from dinner, “why couldn’t you have put me and Sasuke on a team with Kiba-kun?”

Iruka just rolled his eyes, not looking up from where he was writing away. “You know that’s not how it works, Naruto-kun. The teams are very carefully set up on to balance out skills, clan abilities, and dynamics. Besides, you know it’s not just me who has any say in it all.”

“But ni-san, Sakura-chan is such a _fangirl._ ” Naruto groaned, letting himself sprawl face first across the wood. “She’s just so… _fangirly.”_

Iruka laughed, shaking his head as he looked up, pen in hand. “Be nice, Naruto-kun. Give Sakura-chan a chance, she might surprise you. Try inviting her to lunch with you and get to know her a little. You two have never really hung out outside of school and now you’re on a team together. Things may be different. Besides, you know I’ve told you that-”

“Yeah, yeah.” Naruto interrupted, flapping a hand dismissively, “you hated your Genin team at first and you became best friends, I know, I know.”

Iruka huffed, bodily pushing him from the desk. “Get out of here you, go eat and leave me alone if you know all that. Do you have any idea how much paperwork this day gives me? I gotta get a head start now if I ever want to get home. Go on, out.”

Naruto blew a raspberry at him as he left, bento box in hand. The fresh air felt good on his skin, the sun a perfect temperature in the late spring. Naruto took a deep breath as he squinted around, trying to find where Sasuke or Kiba had set up for lunch. He caught sight of pink hair first and Naruto wavered for a moment, watching his new teammate as she walked down the Academy steps, before shrugging.

“Hey, Sakura-chan!” He called out, trotting down the steps after the Beta. The girl turned to face him, the surprise on her face melting away when she caught sight of him. “You wanna eat lunch together?”

Pink brows furrowed, her lips pursing. “Why would I want to do that?”

“Well, uh,” Naruto fumbled, taken slightly aback by her abruptness, “well, we’re on the same squad now, right? Shouldn’t we start getting to know each other and stuff?”

Sakura stared at him for a moment and Naruto braced himself for the no he could see coming – but then something in her expression shifted. “Will Sasuke-kun be there?”

“Uh…yes? I mean, probably. We always eat lunch together, ya know? Us and Kiba-kun.”

Sakura perked up, giving Naruto a smile that startled him thoroughly before chirping a happy, _“sure!”_

“Really?” Naruto blinked in surprise, before giving her a bright smile. “Cool!” What do you know, Iruka was right! Maybe this wouldn’t be that bad. “Well, come on. We gotta find them first. So who do you think our instructor is gonna be?”

“Who knows.” Sakura said distractedly, “where do you and Sasuke-kun go for lunch? We could never find you. Not that we were looking!” She added hastily.

Naruto shrugged. “It changes. Sasuke usually chooses. Ah, not here either. Where’d they go? I wonder if Kiba-kun’s eating with his new team. Sasuke probably brought nothing but veggies again, the weirdo.”

“Sasuke-kun likes vegetables?”

“Yeah, a lot. You should see him at home, it’s so gross. Like he’s part cow or something.”

“Don’t call Sasuke-kun a cow!” Sakura shrieked.

“Ouch!” Naruto hissed, rubbing at his ear as he gave the girl a side eye. Who knew she could be so loud? “I didn’t call him a cow, I said he ate like one, yeesh. Smells like one too, Sasuke never does his dirty laundry on time, ya know? I end up doing it half the time.”

“Don’t be so familiar when you talk about him,” she seethed, her tone completely flying over the Omega’s head as he scouted for his elusive friends.

“Well, I mean, we live together, ya know?” Naruto said off-handedly, moving them off towards one of the rooftop entries they liked to use and completely missing the almost apocalyptic look on the girl’s face. He wondered if Sasuke was gonna be angry he was giving away all their hiding spots to one of his fan club members and – never mind, who cares? They’d never be coming back here after today. Naruto revelled at that thought with a sense of smugness. He climbed up the ladder just enough for his head to peak over the rooftop before bodily perking up.

“Sasuke! There you are, I was about to think you’d went home. Hey, Sakura-chan, come on.” Naruto pulled himself up, jogging over the tiles to plop down next to the Alpha. “What’d ya bring? Aw, no Kiba-kun?”

“He’s with his team.” Sasuke said with a shrug, eyeing where Sakura was scrambling up the ladder. “You brought her?”

Naruto shrugged as he unwrapped his bento box. “Iruka-ni said she’s on our team, so we should get to know each other.”

“Whatever.”

“Sasuke-kun!” Sakura greeted cheerfully, holding an impressive bento up. “Thank you for letting me join you for lunch.” Sasuke shrugged, not even looking up from his oversized salad.

“I knew it,” Naruto stage whispered to Sakura, poking at one of the leaves with a look of abject disgust on his face, “rabbit food.” His chopsticks were violently batted away by Sasuke's, one of them jabbing painfully into the soft joint of his thumb. “Agh, you dick!”

“Stay out of my food then.”

“Ano,” Sakura said shly, opening her bento to reveal three different layers, Naruto felt his eyes bug out as he stared at the extensive spread. “I brought extra so we could share, if you want. I made it myself, too.”

“Wow, Sakura-chan!” Naruto cried out, darting out to grab a chicken leg. “Thanks, this looks amazing.” Sakura stared at him, brow twitching. Naruto gave a delight sound as he bit into the leg. “This is really good, Sakura-chan!”

“Chew with your mouth closed, idiot.” Sasuke said sharply, looking disgusted. Naruto’s mouth snapped shut, shrugging embarrassingly but waited until he swallowed to try and speak again.

“Oh…thanks, Naruto-kun. Sasuke-kun, do you want something?”

“No.” 

“Ne, Sasuke, you should try some.” Naruto prodded, nudging his friend with his shoulder as he helped himself to more from Sakura’s box, “you need to eat meat sometimes, it’s not natural.”

“Shut up.”

“Rude.” Naruto tisked, before showing his bento. “I was gonna offer my tomatoes, but now –”

“Give them to me.”

Naruto huffed out a laugh but shoveled the grilled tomatoes out of his box and into a pile onto Sasuke’s. “Hey, who do you think our Jōnin-sensei is gonna be?”

“I don’t care, as long as they’re not an idiot.”

“Me too!” Sakura said quickly, “I mean, I agree with Sasuke-kun. I hope whoever we get is very skilled.”

“Mah, I guess so. I hope they’re super cool, though! Like an ANBU or something. But Iruka-sensei wouldn’t let us be paired up with someone stupid.” Naruto said thoughtfully.

“Ah, that’s right. You both live with Iruka-sensei, right?”

“Mmhm.” Naruto agreed with a nod, “that’s why Ryoji-sensei teaches our class too, so that Iruka-sensei doesn’t have to grade or test us.”

Sakura let out a thoughtful sound. “It must be weird, living with your teacher.”

“Nah, Iruka-sensei is the best.” Sasuke let out a hum of agreement under his breath, to busy shifting his tomatoes into groupings by size and type to pay much attention, the freak. “And he’s not our teacher now, ya know? So, whatever.”

“I suppose so. I’m so happy we’re on the same team, Sasuke-kun. I look forward to us working together.” Sakura said, glancing up under her eyelashes demurely at Sasuke as she spoke. When Sasuke didn’t move or so much as grunt in her direction, Naruto rolled his eyes and elbowed the Alpha.

“Yeah, it’ll be nice working with you too, Sakura-chan.” Naruto offered when Sasuke still didn’t respond. It didn’t seem to help with the way that the girl all but shrank into herself. Naruto bit back a groan; having a fangirl on the team sucked, but Sasuke could _try_ to make it a little less awkward. Naruto did what he did best and filled the stilted air with chatter, but Sakura seemed to mostly ignore him except to offer questions or thoughts to Sasuke every now and then. Basically, lunch was a disaster and he told Kiba as much as they met up with his team on their way back, hanging far back from the trio of girls.

“Yeah, man, that sucks.” Kiba agreed. “I mean, Hinata-chan's nice enough, but I’ve got Noriko-chan on mine. She wouldn’t shut up about the fact that she wasn’t on Sasuke’s team for like the whole time. I don’t even get it, if they knew him – I mean, the guy’s my friend but he’s a total ass.”

“Total.” Naruto agreed sagely.

“And – man, if they knew how much he farts at night. I thought I was gonna die when I spent the night last week. I’m never sharing a sofa with him again.”

“And he’s so weird, he color codes everything.”

 _“Everything.”_ Kiba echoed.

“And that weird thing he does after he showers –”

“So weird.”

“— with his hair –”

“I’m standing right here.” Sasuke grit out, eyes flashing. Kiba and Naruto erupted into snickers, Kiba slinging an arm around the sullen Alpha’s shoulder.

“I’m just kidding,” then the Beta’s lips curled into a sly smile, “I’d never tell anyone it takes you longer than most girls to do your hair in the morning, Sasuke-hime.”

Sasuke snapped, launching himself after Kiba as the brunet sprinted off, a yapping Akamaru clinging desperately to the boy’s hood. Naruto sniggered to himself, watching as Kiba caught a roundhouse to the side and went sailing over the bushes and out of view, Sasuke following like a nin-hound. “Naru-kun! Save me!”

Naruto peeked over the bushes, grinning at the sight of Sasuke grinding Kiba’s face into the dirt with his foot. “I dunno know, what’ll ya give me?”

“You!” Kiba sputtered, “At least save Aka, he’s just a baby! Spare the puppy, Sasuke-hime!”

“Just die already.” Sasuke snarled, but Naruto didn’t miss the way his foot shifted to give the puppy more breathing room. Akamaru looked like he was having a blast, mouthing and growling at Sasuke’s sandal.

“Naruto-kun, you traitor! I’m gonna tell everyone about that time you –”

Unsure of what Kiba was about to say but alarmed nonetheless (Kiba knew _a lot_ of stuff), Naruto used the hedge railing to pull himself up and over the bushes, tackling the Alpha from behind. “Charge!”

Sasuke swung around, his hands snapping out and ready to redirect when Kiba’s hand darted out, yanking roughly at his ankle. Sasuke let out a startled breath as his center of balance shifted, already correcting it when Naruto smashed into his side. They went down in a heap, rolling on the Academy lawn. Naruto started out on top, but by the time his fist connected with Sasuke’s jaw he found himself flipped. His fingers flew out in an attempt to hit pressure points like Auntie Yūgao taught him – but of course, she’d taught that to Sasuke too and he blocked the throat strike easily. They rolled around for a few minutes before Sasuke pinned him again with a wicked grin.

“Give up, nerd.”

“Piss off,” Naruto seethed, his leg jolting up to catch Sasuke in the tender area of the thigh. It made him so mad that Sasuke almost always won their spars still. Iruka and Tenzō said it’d even out once he hit puberty and his muscles came in more, something about Omegas always being lighter when they were younger, but still! It always made Sasuke so stupidly smug.

Sasuke blocked the strike with his knee, pinning Naruto’s leg down, while his hands held his wrists pressed against his chest in a tight twist. “Yield, I won.” And _damn,_ there was that _stupid smug grin,_ “I win. Again.”

“Of course he did, like Naruto would ever win against Sasuke-kun. Gods, I can’t believe how he just throws himself at Sasuke-kun like that. I mean, desperate much?”

“I know! I still can’t believe he passed.”

“Tell me about it, he doesn’t know the course work at all.”

It was Noriko and Sakura, talking from the pathway. They must have thought they were being quiet, but their hushed voices were nothing to Naruto’s hearing. He’d always had better hearing than anyone else in the house except for Kakashi and his younger siblings. Naruto went still beneath Sasuke as he listened.

“I bet Iruka-sensei passed him out of pity. That's what my mom said. He’s his caretaker, they live together and everything. I saw it myself.”

“At least he’s not on your team.”

“Oh, I’d just _die._ Eh, no offense Sakura-chan.”

“Psh, none taken.”

Naruto stared at the collar of Sasuke’s shirt, swallowing around a tight throat. Well. What did he really expect? No one in class really liked him outside of Kiba and Sasuke. Even Chōji and Shikamaru really only hung out with him because Kiba did. One lunch wasn’t going to change anything. Stupid Iruka and his stupid ideas. And the fanclub hated him more than most, no matter how many times he tried to explain to them that he and Sasuke were just friends. Really! Sasuke was like a brother, they’d been living together for so long. The idea of the two of them – just ew.

“Ignore them.”

Naruto looked up – and wow, they must really not have been that quiet if the look of irritation on Sasuke’s face and the scowl on Kiba’s was anything to go by. He shrugged as he was released. “Whatever. Nothing they haven’t said before, right?”

Sasuke stared down at him for a moment, before clicking his tongue loudly and standing. Kiba was by his side when Naruto stood, he and Akamaru glaring in tandem at the two girls. “Don’t listen to them," Akamaru gave a sharp bark of agreement, "they’re dumb as hell if they’d ever think Iruka-sensei would do that.”

“Right! It’s like they don’t even know him.” Naruto muttered back, totally offended and a bit bewildered on his adopted oma’s behalf. Iruka was such a stickler for the rules at school, he’d never let Naruto get away with graduating if he hadn’t actually done the work.

“Ah, Sasuke-kun!” Noriko greeted as Sasuke rounded the bushes and back onto the pathway, “you’ve got some grass in your hair. Would you like to borrow my mirror?”

“I have a brush.” Sakura added brightly.

Sasuke stared at them, hands in his pockets and eyebrows furrowed in a look that was so _Itachi_ it would have been humorous any other time. “You’re both annoying.” Both girls paled abruptly, Sakura’s hands rising to clasp by her chest in shock. “Naruto, Kiba-kun, come on. Let’s go.”

Kiba nodded, lips curling up to show off his impressive Inuzuka canines before leading Naruto away by the neck.

“Oh no,” Sakura whispered behind them, “do you think they heard us?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear, Sakura is going to grow into a decent person. Right now she's an eleven year girl with a massive crush, who isn't handling the fact that an Omega is Sasuke's best friend. Give her time to grow. And for Kakashi, Iruka, and the very strong female characters that hang out around the Hatake home to smack some sense into her. I mean a diet? Like omg, you're a ninja, couldn't believe it when I saw it. Eat, you damn child. Eat. And Naruto is a little more aware of the way people treat him, because he has a very nice home life were he isn't treated like that, which (I think) would naturally mean he would be more aware of when he is treated like shit.
> 
> I've said it before and I'll say it again; can we please get the Naruto characters a good therapist? Maybe a psychiatrist as well. 
> 
> Also: Kiba-Naruto-Sasuke bros for life.


	3. Team 7, Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Sunday!

Shibuki made his way towards the Academy entrance, counting the money from his recent market day with a grin before slipping it into his vest pocket. It was slow going for sure, but the farm was really starting to turn a profit. And even the sales from the shrine store was starting to pick up, the appeal of the God Tree slowly but surely spreading across the village. Sure, it was mostly with civilian kids and teenagers, but a few ninja had started stopping by as well.

Though the knowledge of the Hero Water was still fairly non-existent (and would stay that way until the first crop was harvested), great trees like the God Tree had been worshiped across the elemental nations for years, and the through the careful manipulations on the part of the Hokage, the Mikami God Tree was gaining it’s own following as a pillar of good luck and Shinto importance. _I wonder if father would be proud,_ Shibuki thought, the Beta’s smile dimming somewhat with it.

Caring for the Great Tree had always been the Mikami’s birthright, a pact made through blood that had been followed for generations. Surely, his father would be proud of that. But he, Mikami Shibuki, a farmer? And the loss of their village…of Shibuki choosing not to try and take it back, not to free his home and re-establish Waterfall…Well, it was what it was. Taking back Waterfall was not a realistic possibility without starting another war and Shibuki was happy in Leaf, he really was. He had Iruka, Naruto, and Fū, family in all but name, and Kakashi, Miwa, and Kaito. And – Shibuki felt his smile bloom into something warmer as he caught sight of Itachi waiting for him at the Academy doors – Itachi. Years ago when they’d first become engaged, Shibuki hadn’t really known what to feel. Still reeling from the visit to his destroyed village and the rescue of the God Tree’s offspring, and then the Hokage’s aggressive business deal, the offer from the Uchiha had caught him utterly unawares and flat footed.

Itachi had been a good friend to him over the years and an even better teammate, true, but as a husband? Shibuki’d been so resentful of Itachi at first, barraging into their team to take Osamu’s place like he had any right to it. And when that had faded, Shibuki had felt rather guilty about how well he seemed to get along with the genius Omega. But as time had passed, Itachi had proven to be an integral part of their team dynamics. He was just a good fit for Shibuki and Hana, in a way different but just as important as Osamu had been. Yet the idea of taking him on as a spouse had been…intimidating. Itachi’s prowess as a ninja aside (and Shibuki had never doubted, not once, that his blindness would ever dampen Itachi's abilities – and it hadn’t) Itachi was a genius, and utterly beautiful.

Even if he’d been younger than Shibuki, he had still been breathtaking as a child. Shibuki couldn’t think of a single time when Itachi had _not_ been beautiful, even after his blinding. So many lusted after the Omega, far better man than woman then Shibuki could ever hope or dream of being and with far more to offer. What did Shibuki really had? A dead clan name, a throne with no country attached to it, a mountain of debt, and a mystical tree that would ever demand first place in his life. So yes, Shibuki had been intimidated. But now? After all these years, knowing that Itachi was to be his, a partner in every way – Shibuki could think of no one else he could ever want to call 'husband.'

“Shibuki-kun.” Itachi greeted, his lips curling in a small smile.

“Hey.” Shibuki greeted back warmly, telegraphing his movements as he leaned in to give his fiancé a kiss. He pulled back after a moment, his grin turning somewhat wolfish as he took in dark lashes fluttered over milky irises, full lips flushed and cheeks tinged a pretty pink. He brought a hand up to stroke Itachi’s cheek affectionately. “How was your day?”

“Good,” Itachi said, leaning into the contact a bit, “my new class is a handful. They always are though.” Itachi’s smile turned sharper. “Until they stop underestimating me, it will be an eventful couple of days.”

Shibuki snorted; Itachi’s classes always seemed to think his disability meant they’d get away with more – until the Omega prodigy broke those delusions. His blindness may mean that he required an aide in the classroom for some things, but Itachi’s extreme chakra control and sensing abilities meant he was hardly a push over. “I had a good day, too. Made a killing at the market.”

“I’m so glad.” Itachi said, smile muting itself somewhat. “Are we still dining at your home tonight?”

“Ah,” Shibuki confirmed, before leaning in to rest his cheek on the shorter man’s brow. “I missed you. The house is always empty when you’re not in it.”

Itachi’s breath hitched, his face curving up for a kiss that Shibuki was all too happy to give. A sharp intake of breath, the sound of the Academy door being thrown open roughly, and then there was a sharp flare of pain to Shibuki’s shin. “Stop molesting my brother in public, you pervert!”

Itachi let out a sigh even as Shibuki chuckled. “Sasuke-kun,” Itachi soothed, “please be polite to your brother-in-law.”

Shibuki hid his grin as Sasuke erupted into choking gasps of outrage. 

“Jeez, Sasuke,” Naruto exclaimed with a grin, his head poking out the open door, “you know they’re getting married in like two months, right?”

From where he was squeezing out the door from between the two boys, Inuzuka Kiba made a face. “You’ve got such a brother complex, man, it’s weird.”

Sasuke flushed, hand reaching out to smack his friend, Kiba inelegantly darting over the stair railing to escape.

“They’re not married yet.” Sasuke mumbled darkly, glaring up at Shibuki with all the heat an eleven year old could manage. The Beta just shook his head with a laugh, ignoring the small Alpha’s squawk and batting hands as he reached out to ruffle his hair. Sasuke _did_ always had a bit of brother complex, but after the massacre, it had only swelled and grown. Therapy had helped somewhat, but there was no denying that if Sasuke had his way, he’d be wherever Itachi was at all times.

“Hello to you too, Sasuke-kun. Congratulations on passing. You’re on a team with Naru-chan, then?”

“Hey!” Naruto shrieked, cheeks flushing. “I’m not a 'chan!' I’m an adult now, damn’t.”

“Sure you are.” Shibuki agreed flatly, ignoring the way his younger brother was all but jabbing his fingers into his forehead protector. “I can see that. You’ve got sauce on your shirt, by the way.” Naruto let out a dramatic gasp of disbelief, hands darting down to peel his shirt away from his chest. There was a flash of pink behind the boys. “Oh, and who is this?”

“H-Hello,” the little Beta girl greeted, jade green eyes darting from Shibuki’s face to Itachi’s, before blushing hotly. She bowed quickly, “my name is Haruno Sakura. I'm also on Team 7, with Sasuke-kun and Naruto-kun.”

“Haruno-chan is one of our best students academically,” Itachi said evenly, “she tested well into the upper rankings.”

“Well done, Sakura-chan!” Shibuki said cheerfully, “I’m sure your parents must be very proud. My name is Mikami Shiubki, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Sakura blushed nearly as bright as her hair, stuttering through a thank you. "Mikami? You own the God Tree shrine!" Sakura gasped, sounding very impressed.

“I do, I hope you'll visit us soon. And please take good care of our boys, now. Naruto-kun is a younger brother to me, I feel better knowing he’s on such a good team.”

“Naruto-kun is your…” Sakura started before cutting herself off, a bewildered look on her face. Shibuki felt his smile lessen somewhat. He had been stunned when he first moved to Leaf and saw the way the village treated Naruto. At least under father’s rule, Fū had always been treated with respect. There was always some fear, yes, but respect nonetheless. He had hoped that whoever Naruto was on a team with would be, at the very least, more polite than most of the villagers.

“Yes, he is. Naruto came to live with us when he was very young, shortly after Iruka-ni-san and my younger sister, Fū-chan, came to live in Leaf.”

“You’re not from the village?” Sakura asked, surprised.

“No, Shibuki-kun and his family came from the Hidden Village of the Waterfall, Haruno-chan,” Itachi offered smoothly, “though they’re all Leaf-nin now. Did you meet with your Jōnin-instructor yet?”

“Yeah and you won’t believe it!” Naruto let out an aggrieved sound, “it’s Kakashi-ni!”

“Oh really?” Itachi said, voice interested. Shibuki bit his lip, wondering how all that went down. Kakashi had never been one to shy around the fact he never wanted to teach. Sasuke’s hand reached out, lightening fast, to smack Naruto hard.

“Itai! What the hell was that for?”

“It’s Kakashi-sensei now,” Sasuke chided sharply, “you’ve got to treat him like Iruka-sensei unless we’re at home, idiot.”

“I will be dining with Shibuki-kun tonight, Sasuke-kun, Naruto-kun. Would you like to join us?” Itachi asked, smoothly distracting the boys from what looked to be the start of a brawl.

“Nah,” Naruto chirped, hands clasped over his head, “we promised to help Iruka-ni with dinner tonight. And Fū-nee is supposed to be home today from her mission.”

“That’s good! She’s been gone for a while, hasn’t she?” Shibuki said cheerfully, “tell Iruka-ni-san I would like to come to dinner tomorrow if that’s alright. Sakura-chan, it was wonderful to meet you.”

“Oh, yes!” Sakura said quickly, her face still a little red as she stared up at him, “it was nice to meet you too, Mikami-sama! And to talk with you, Itachi-sensei.”

Itachi gave the group a small smile, advising them to be careful on their walk home. Naruto promised loudly that they would, calling a cheerful goodbye to where Kiba was hovering by the bottom of the stares before sprinting off and dragging a disgruntled looking Sasuke behind him. Shibuki shook his head, always taken aback by the sheer amount of energy that Naruto seemed to have. He took Itachi’s hand his own as they made their way down the steps. “Thank you for allowing me to borrow Taichi, he was great help with the harvest today.”

“You’re welcome,” Itachi offered, hand squeezing his own, “if I’m honest, I think he gets bored sometimes during the school day.” Shibuki hummed, opening his mouth to ask what Itachi wanted for dinner when the Omega abruptly drew them to a stop, stepping into a nearby alcove. Shibuki made a questioning sound, but Itachi only shook his head. “Is Kiba-kun still there?”

Eyebrows rising in surprise, Shibuki leaned out of their hidey-hole, feeling his eyebrows raise even further at the sight of the Beta boy standing there, arms crossed as he glared down at Haruno Sakura.

“Eh, Kiba-kun?” Sakura asked, voice timid and confused.

“Sakura-chan.” Kiba said, voice sharp, “I don’t care if you don’t like Naruto-kun; he’s my best friend, so if you think I’m gonna let you talk shit about him – oh boy, you’ve got another thing coming.”

“Oh…no, Kiba-kun, that was-”

Kiba snorted, hair bristling and – humorously – so did Akamaru’s fur. “Yeah, don’t fucking lie. We all heard you. You’re his teammate now and if you get them in trouble ‘cause you don’t like him...” Kiba let the words trail off threateningly.

Sakura eyed the other boy before something shifted in her expression, the meekness disappearing completely. “Did it ever occur to you that Naruto-kun is also _my_ teammate now? So you’re his best friend, that means you know what he’s like. Naruto-kun is constantly late for class and he spends the _whole time_ messing around.”

Kiba moved to interrupt, but Sakura made a violent motion with her hand.

“He’s an idiot who doesn’t care for the rules. He barely passed; he doesn’t know any of the material. He’s a good fighter, yeah, but he’s so quick to fight he doesn’t think at all. And he spends half his time pranking everyone and just being a nuisance. If anyone’s gotta worry about the team getting in trouble, it’s me. And just because he’s on my team doesn’t mean I have to like him. There’s a reason _no one_ likes Naruto-kun but _you.”_

 _“And_ _Sasuke.”_ Kiba let out a growl, fists bunching by his side. “No one likes Naruto-kun but me and Sasuke-kun. And that’s really why you don’t like him, right? Because you can’t stand the fact that an _Omega_ is your precious _Sasuke-kun’s_ best friend.”

“Like Sasuke-kun would ever have an interest in someone like Naruto.” Sakura sniffed, arms folded primly across her chest.

“Yeah, but he does.” Kiba corrected with a sneer. “You’re just pissed off that he listens to Naruto-kun and won’t give you the time of day. Listen to me, Haruno, I don’t give a shit if you think you’re in love with him. Sasuke-kun and Naruto-kun are my friends, and if you fuck this up for them because of your stupid crush, I don’t care if you’re a girl – I’ll beat you up.” He let out an explosive sigh, both hands coming up to rub at the back of his hair angrily. “I just don’t get you guys; Sasuke-kun treats Naruto-kun like a brother, they’re best friends. Why do you think being mean to Naruto-kun is gonna win you points? Seriously? You’re all so dumb.”

And with that imperious announcement, Kiba was stomping away, grumbling mean things about fanclubs and stupid bimbos to his puppy. Shibuki leaned back into the alcove. “Well,” he said after a moment, “that was interesting.”

Itachi just smiled serenely. “Kiba-kun is a good friend. I’m glad my brother has him.”

“It would have been better if Kiba-kun had been their third.” Shibuki agreed wishfully, tucking Itachi under his arm as they begun walking back towards his lands. He turned to brush a kiss to Itachi’s hair. “I bought some stuff for stew; thought I’d make one for dinner. That sound good?”

“Yes, very.” Itachi bit his lip, glancing coyly up at him from underneath his bangs. “I was hoping I could spend the night, if that’s alright?”

Shibuki felt his face heat, swallowing past a tight throat as he felt his stomach twist in interest. “Y-Yeah,” he swallowed again, embarrassed by how telling his voice had come out, “of course. I love you in my bed. I mean!” Shibuki sputtered, “I mean – it’s just – it feels more like home when you spend the night, not that I don’t love having you in my – that is, I mean, I just mean…I’m gonna stop now.”

Itachi chuckled, curling his arm around Shibuki’s waist, resting his head against his shoulder. “I enjoy our time together too, Shi-kun.”

* * *

Fū was exhausted. She gave Neji a cheerful wave goodbye as their paths forked; the Beta going left towards the Hyūga compound while hers carried on to the right for the Hatake. She would never had imagined all those years ago that she’d become such a good friend with Neji. Sure, he had some real twisted views on fate, but she could hardly begrudge him his issues. It wasn’t like Fū didn’t have a couple between being an orphan, the loss of her village, and the fact that she was a jinchūriki. Besides, both Tenzō-sensei and now Asuma-sensei were working with him on that.

By her side, Genma let out a thoughtful hum. “You doing alright, Fū-chan? That mission was way more complicated then I thought it’d be.”

“Yeah,” Fū said cheerfully, readjusting the straps of her back. Like most missions tended to do, this one went wrong from nearly the start, but they’d still managed to beat up the bad guys, save the damsel (well, noble lord, really) in distress, and collect their pay. Genma had filled in for both Asuma and Tenzō for their impromptu mission. Technically, their team was only supposed to be doing village based missions until Tenzō delivered, but this one had come up without warning a week ago and they were the only Genin team available. “Thanks for coming, Genma-oji. I'm sorry we got back so late, will it cause any problems with your new team?”

A hand reached out to ruffle her hair, the bright locks neatly tucked away beneath her bandanna. She’d taken to wearing it as they’d begun to gear up for the Chūnin exams, aware that her green hair made her easy to spot. She’d attached her forehead protector to it as well and it may or may not have been inspired by her Uncle Genma.

“No, don't worry about that, squirt. The Hokage already informed the Academy I was late, I'll be meeting with my team tomorrow. Besides, it's not like we could ask Asuma-kun to leave right now, not with how close Tenzō-kun is." And, well, normally that kind of thing wouldn't really matter that much - if you were deployed, you were deployed regardless of what was happening in your personal life - but being the Hokage's son had some benefits. "You excited for the babies to come?”

“Mm!” Fū exclaimed happily. “Tenzō-ni said I can be their cousin, even if I didn’t let Kakashi-ni-san adopt me.”

“Both girls, right?”

“Uh-huh. They don’t know if they’re gonna be Omegas or Betas until they do a blood test, but Tenzō-ni said they’re gonna name them Moriko and Kaede. I can’t wait to meet them!”

Genma had a wistful look on his face, sebon flickering from on side of his mouth to the other. “Yeah, kids are exciting. Make sure you send a runner when it all goes down, me and Raidō want to wait with you guys.”

“I will, oji-san.” Fū promised. “Ne, aren’t you and Raidō-oji-san gonna get a baby soon, too?”

“Soon.” Genma agreed, his smile warmer. “I think we found one, but don’t tell anyone yet, okay? It’s a secret, just between us.”

Fū squealed, skipping as she walked. “For real? That’s so great, Genma-oji-san! Yeah, I won’t tell anyone, but I wanna meet them right away!”

“I’ll make sure you guys are the first to meet them.” Genma promised before swinging the gate of the compound open, “come on, let’s go find your sensei so I can give him a run down on the mission.”

“Okay. Oh…” Fū quieted, her sharp ears picking up on a conversation inside. Genma gave her a look, but Fū shook her head, biting her lip.

_“- a head’s up? Really?”_

_“Kakashi, it’s not like I wanted to go behind your back. You know I’m not allowed to let any of the Jōnin-instructors know beforehand. You know that!”_

_“You know I didn’t want this, Iruka.”_

_“Lower your voice! The kids will be home any minute, you really want Sasuke-kun or Naruto-kun to hear you? Listen, you’re making this into way too big of a deal.”_

_“Too big of a deal? You know I never wanted this.”_

_“Kakashi, listen -”_

“Um,” Fū said quickly, snagging Genma’s elbow and guiding him away from the main house, “I’ll come with you. Let’s go that way. Uh, _quickly.”_

Genma eyes darted from her to the house, before shrugging and letting her pull him down the path. “Sure. Lead the way.”

“Asuma-sensei, Tenzō-ni! We’re back!” Fū shouted loudly – far louder than necessary – and heard the arguing voices inside the house cut off. “Genma-oji is here too!”

She didn’t know what that was about, but she could guess. She hoped it wouldn’t be too bad for Naruto and Sasuke. They were so excited about team placements, honestly, Fū was just happy she’d made it home the same day to congratulate them. Iruka and Kakashi rarely fought, but when they did…

“Fū-chan,” Tenzō greeted them as he opened the house door, “I thought you had a date with Torune-kun today?”

Fū flushed, ignored Genma’s gleeful look. “We rescheduled it for tomorrow, I didn’t know how late I’d be. Anyway, we’re back!”

“Come on in,” Tenzō said around a grin, “I’ll grab Asuma. I wanna hear all about. No one was hurt, right? It’s weird, you guys going off without either of us.”

* * *

It was late, late enough that Naruto was using every inch of his skills to sneak down the hallway and into Sasuke’s room. He let out a sigh of victory as he shut the door behind him, before boldly climbing up into his friend’s bed.

“Naruto,” a sigh, “go away.”

“Nah.” Naruto said dismissively, slipping in under the covers. “I knew you were awake, I could hear you from my room. Hey, Sasuke. Did Kakashi-ni seem…I dunno, mad earlier? I mean, when he met us up at school.”

There was a silence as Sasuke turned in the bed, leaning up to rest his head on his palm. “…yeah.”

Naruto’s shoulders dropped, fingers tracing a crease on the pillow case. “Do you think he’s mad at us?”

“No.” Sasuke said after a moment, letting himself fall onto his back. He stared up at the ceiling, brows furrowed. “I don’t think it was us. I mean, it’s weird having him be our instructor, but no weirder than Iruka-ni-san being our Academy teacher. But…” Sasuke’s lips pressed together. “Yeah, I think he was mad.”

“I wonder why? Do you think it’s because of me?”

“Don’t be stupid.” Came the immediate response. “Kakashi-ni-san is fine with you. He’s not like the others, you know that.”

Naruto let his head drop to the pillow, bunching the soft material under his chin as he stared at the headboard. “Yeah, I know. But,” the blond Omega ran his fingers over the wood of the headboard, “Sakura-chan sure wasn’t happy.”

“Haruno is an idiot.” Sasuke said flatly, making Naruto burst into a giggle. “Just ignore her, that’s what I do.”

“I know, I know.” Naruto agreed, rolling onto his side so he was facing his friend. “I just, I mean I kinda hoped…well, you know. It’d be different.” A grunt of understanding. “…why do you think they all hate me so much?”

Sasuke shrugged, still staring at the ceiling. “I don’t know. It doesn’t make a lot of sense.”

“Yeah.” Naruto agreed quietly. “I don’t think I’ve ever done anything that bad.”

“Maybe it was your parents?” Sasuke offered after a moment, voice careful.

Naruto stared at him. “What do you mean?”

“…well…” Sasuke hesitated, a move that was unlike him. “Maybe your parents did something bad? Like, to the village. Like traitors or missing-nin. And maybe that’s why they don’t like you. Maybe that’s why we’ve never heard about any other Uzumaki. Everyone stares at me and Itachi-ni-san because of our family.”

Naruto thought about that. He didn’t like the idea that his mom or dad could have been bad people. Honestly, he didn’t think about them much. He didn’t even know if he had a mom and a dad, or an oma and dad, or two moms or two dads. Naruto had thought about them every now and then, but he had Iruka and Kakashi, so… “I hope not.” He said after a minute, though he begrudgingly thought that made sense. “I don’t like that.”

“Just ignore them.” Sasuke counselled and Naruto let out an irritated huff.

“That’s all I ever do. That’s what everybody tells me to do.” He burrowed until only his ears were free of the blanket. “It’s not fair, though.”

“Yeah.” Sasuke said after a moment, before rolling over, an arm thrown haphazardly over Naruto’s covered form. “They’re all stupid.”

“You like me, right?”

Sasuke snorted. “Duh. Even if you are dumb.”

“Hey!” Naruto squeaked, hands darting under the covers to poke him hard in the side. “Be nice to me.”

“I am.” Sasuke defended grumpily, rubbing his side.

“But why do you think Kakashi-ni was so mad earlier if it wasn’t because of us?”

“I dunno.” Sasuke admitted, pulling the covers up over his shoulders. “Maybe he was just having a bad day?”

“I don’t want Kaka-ni to be upset, though.” Naruto admitted, voice low and sad. “I was really excited about getting a team, but I don’t wanna do it if it makes Kakashi-ni-san upset.”

Sasuke opened his mouth but paused, his eyes suddenly darting to the door. Naruto furrowed his brows, leaning up to look but saw nothing but the bedroom door open a crack, the hallway still dark. He listened, but the house was quiet as well.

“It’ll be fine.” Sasuke said after a moment, pulling Naruto back down. “Let’s go to sleep. We still got that test in the morning.”

“Okay,” Naruto agreed around a loud yawn, “we’re totally gonna kick it’s ass, ya know? We’ll pass for sure.”

“Well, yeah.” Sasuke agreed, poking Naruto's forehead. The Omega made a face at the move. “Don’t worry so much, will you?”

“Whatever. Goodnight, Sasuke. Wake me up this time, okay?”

“I tried last time.” Sasuke complained tiredly, “not my fault you just kept sleeping.”

“Try harder.” Naruto threatened, eyes narrowed. “Seriously. You’re such a jerk.”

“Sleep lighter. You’re supposed to be a ninja, idiot.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And the other kids make a debut. Kiba's made his stand, Sakura was completely taken aback by hot Shibuki and Itachi are, independently and together, Itachi is a bit of a troll to his baby brother, Genma is finally about to get a kid, and Kakashi was totally standing in that hallway. How do you guys feel like it's going so far?


	4. Team 7, Part 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo, inspiration is running hot here.

Naruto let out a yawn, rubbing at his eyes as he made his way into the kitchen. He gave a sleepy grin to Kaito, the toddler watching him interestedly from his chair.

“Moring, Kai-chan.” Naruto greeted, reaching over to poke the silver haired pup on the tip of his nose. His youngest brother offered up a handful of mushy, sticky cereal. “Uh, no thanks, little guy. I’m gonna get my own. Good sharing, though.”

Iruka always pressed upon them to reward the younger kids when they shared, so Naruto was quick to tag that last part on. His grin grew a little meaner when he took in Miwa. Kaito seemed to have lucked out and gotten Iruka’s hair type, and it curled in soft, slick little whirls. Miwa totally got Kakashi’s, her pig tails sticking out from her head like brush bristles. He leaned down quickly, swiping a loaded piece of toast from her plate and barely avoiding a kunai slash.

“W _eeee_ lll, thanks Miwa-chan!” Naruto chirped brightly, then panicked when he saw Iruka’s disapproving face and shoved the whole toast slice into his mouth. Iruka just let out a sigh.

“I wasn't going to take it from you, Naruto-kun." Which was arguable in Naruto's view. "And Miwa-chan, no weapons at table, you know that.”

“But Oma, he took my toast!”

“I don’t care, no weapons. Not even training ones.” Iruka said sternly, before turning on Naruto, spatula lofted high like a sword. “And you! Don’t tease you sister, Naruto-kun! I was going to make you your own toast and eggs, but now I don’t think I will.”

Miwa let out a dark sounding chuckle for a five-year-old, her grey eyes gleaming malevolently in the kitchen light. “You could just give me his toast, Oma.”

“Sounds fair to me.” Kakashi agreed as he swept into the kitchen, the Alpha leaning down to press a kiss to Miwa and then Kaito’s heads, before leaning over to give Iruka one on the cheek. “Hurry up, Naruto. Sasuke is already waiting for you at the door.”

“What?” Naruto sputtered, reaching over and grabbing several pieces of bread before sprinting towards the door. “I wasn’t even late this morning!”

True to the Alpha’s word, Sasuke was waiting in the entryway, arms crossed. “Hurry up.”

“I’m coming, I’m coming. Are you walking with us, Kaka-n…sensei?”

“No,” his adopted father said, appearing in the hallway with Kaito balanced on his hip. “I’ve got some things to do before I meet up with you. Go ahead.”

“Byebye!” Kaito called after them, his pudgy hand waving.

“Bye, Kaito-chan! Bye guys, have a good day!” Naruto called back, mouth half full of the stolen bread.

Sasuke let out a put-upon sigh. “Stop talking with your mouth full; I’m serious, it’s really gross.”

“Whatever.” Naruto mumbled after he swallowed the dry bread down. He made a face. “Blah, now I’m thirsty. Let me have some of your water.”

“No, you brought your own.”

“Eh,” Naruto let out a laugh as they made their way further down the pathway to the village proper, glancing over his shoulder at the Hatake compound. “I…may have…kinda…forgot mine.”

“Suffer then.”

“Jeez.” Naruto huffed, “why are we friends again? You’re so mean to me.”

“Because I said yes when you asked us to be.” Sasuke said dryly, reaching out and yanking the Omega out of the way villager who was pushing an overstocked cart blindly. Naruto eyed the cart as it passed wearily before returning to pawing through Sasuke’s pack for his water bottle. He let out a victorious sound as he pulled it free, drinking from it greedily.

“Ah, thanks. That hit the spot.”

Sasuke narrowed his eyes as he took the considerably lighter water bottle back. “You drank it all.”

“No, no,” Naruto said quickly, “there’s some left.”

Sasuke’s eyes narrowed even further and the Omega yipped, years of hard-won instincts sending him sprinting forward, his friend hot on his heels. They made it to the meeting spot with plenty of time to spare, but even so Sakura was waiting for them. She perked up like a wildflower under the morning sun at the sight of them.

“Sasuke-kun, good morning!” She stood quickly, brushing out her red skirt and giving the duo a bright smile. “I’m so nervous about the test, I wonder what it will be?”

“Knowing Kakashi-sensei, it’ll be something hard.” Naruto said as he leaned against the bridge railing. “He’s always hard when he trains us.”

Sasuke made a low sound of agreement. “Probably something physical, like a combat test. He’ll want to know our abilities. He’s already pretty familiar with me and Naruto’s, so he’ll be focusing a lot on you, Sakura-chan.”

Sakura visibly paled. “Um…you think so?”

Naruto shrugged. “Probably. I mean, he’s been training us for years with Iruka-ni. So, that’d make sense.”

“I see…” Sakura, if possible, looked even more nervous than before.

Sasuke sighed under his breath. “If you don’t feel you can do it, now would be the time to speak up. I won’t let anyone hold us back.”

 _“Sasuke.”_ Naruto hissed, slapping the Alpha on the shoulder. The dark-haired boy ignored him, crossing his arms unrepentant. “Don’t be mean, damn. What Sasuke means to say, is that if you need some pointers, we could help you out.”

“Eh? Pointers?”

“Well, yeah.” Naruto continued, “like I said, we’ve been training with Kakashi-sensei for years. So, we kind of already know what we’re about to get in to, but you don’t. So, we can give you an idea of what’s gonna happen.”

“Oh.” Sakura chewed her lips, hands wringing nervously. “Yeah, that’s a good idea.”

“Kakashi-sensei is stupidly fast.” Sasuke stated simply. “He’s incredibly strong, as well. There’s no way you could possibly match him.”

“None of us could though.” Naruto pointed out, staring his friend down in annoyance. “Stop pretending you’d have any hope either, Sasuke. It’s not like I’ve ever seen you land a hit on him he didn’t let you.” The Alpha bristled before turning away from them to stare out over the river. Naruto rolled his eyes. “Arrogant dick. Look, Sakura-chan, the point is that none of us could take Kakashi-sensei. _But,”_ he said quickly, before Sakura completely lost hope, “he’s totally a stickler for team shit. So, you know. We should work together.”

“We still won’t win, even together.” Sasuke pointed out.

“Well, no. Of course not, Kakashi-sensei made Genin when he was like, I don’t know, a baby.”

“He was five.”

Naruto made a flailing movement with his hand. “Like I said, a baby.”

Sakura gaped at them. “Kakashi-sensei was a Genin at _five?”_

“Yeah, the guy’s a genius.” Naruto said with a shrug. “So no,” he sent Sasuke another glare, “we’re probably not gonna win at a combat exercise–”

“Or anything else.” Sasuke grumbled.

“But that doesn’t mean we can’t impress him enough to pass.” Naruto said loudly, talking over the Alpha. “Like I said, Kaka-sensei is all about teamwork. So if we work together we can maybe win this thing.”

“Fine.” Sasuke said, pushing off the bridge railing. “We should take stock of our skill set; I’ve got my clan’s fire ninjutsu and taijutsu. And my kenjutsu.”

“I’ve got my shadow clone technique,” Naruto added, “and my traps. I’ve got the basics of fūinjutsu down thanks to Iruka-ni and Tenzō-oji, but nothing that I’d really wanna use in a fight. And I’m pretty good at taijutsu.” A side eye from Sasuke had Naruto throwing both hands up. “Okay, I’m decent a taijutsu.”

“All of which Kakashi-sensei knows, considering he taught most of it to you. And he knows all of mine from sparing with me or Itachi-ni-san.” Sasuke pointed out unhelpfully.

“Details.” Naruto dismissed. “What about you Sakura-chan?”

“Um,” the girl said, eyes wide when both boys turned to her, “well, I know the Academy taijutsu. And I don’t really know any ninjutsu at the moment outside of what we were shown in school.”

“The basics then.” Sasuke said derisively.

“Which is better than nothing.” Naruto said sharply. What the hell was up with Sasuke? Sakura came from a civilian family; it wasn’t like she had anyone to teach her clan techniques or train her at home like they did. “Besides, don’t sell yourself short, Sakura-chan. Didn’t you test up with Ino-chan in Games and Theory?”

“I did.” Sakura said quickly, perking up somewhat.

“Okay then!” Naruto said brightly, giving the Beta girl a thumbs up. “Then between the three of us, we can totally come up with a plan.”

“Right!” Sakura agreed, brightening. “Okay, so…let me think. You said Kakashi-sensei knows most of your tricks….hm…” The girl faded off for a moment, brows furrowed. “…well, traps are always somewhat unpredictable in themselves. So we can use that. Especially if we could combine them with Sasuke-kun’s fire techniques. Maybe we can catch Kakashi-sensei off guard?”

“See! Already off to a good start.” Naruto said cheerfully, “this is gonna go great.”

* * *

This was going terribly.

Naruto let out a shriek as he was launched over Kakashi’s shoulder, the Alpha finding him amongst his clones with almost unerring precision. They were getting their asses kicked – and Kakashi was reading that _damn_ _book the whole time._ Sasuke caught him just before could smash into a tree, the two of them rolling messily on the ground before landing heavily on the balls of his feet.

“That stupid book,” Naruto seethed, “I’m gonna tell Iruka-ni!”

“Come on,” Sasuke painted, “we gotta–”

“Herd him, yeah.” Naruto agreed. The duo launched themselves forward, Naruto’s hands curving in an already familiar seal that sent a dozen of clones streaking a head of them. Kakashi destroyed them ruthlessly, one landing a lucky hit to his shoulder before being stabbed and popping away. They distracted him long enough for Sakura to dart from the bushes and launch a smoke bomb at their sensei.

Kakashi pivoted smoothly out of the fog’s reach, spinning around and catching Sasuke’s katana blade between his hands. Naruto darted down, leg sweeping out. Kakashi leapt up easily, but Naruto followed, vaulting up onto his hands and spinning his legs. The Alpha flipped out of the way, taking Sasuke – sword and all – with him.

There was another flash of pink, Sakura lobbing another bomb with all her strength. Kakashi shifted to avoid it, but Naruto piled on with his clones at the same time that Sasuke made a kick to his head. The bomb impacted at their sensei’s feet, filling the area with a sour smell. Naruto felt his eyes water, the stink bomb one of his more potent ones, and knew that Kakashi was equally affected by the way the Alpha instinctively jerked back.

It was a minuscule opening, but Naruto took it, launching more clones at the Jōnin, all of them aiming for his legs or arms. They’d barely wrapped around it before Kakashi was sending a jolt of lightening through through his body, the smell acidic against the pungent dung and making the clones pop in tandem.

“Bastard!” The Omega seethed.

“Don’t get mad, stupid.” Sasuke snarled as he flew by – which was utter horseshit, by the way, because the angry flash of his katana as it was so easily deflected by Kakashi’s kunai spoke of the small Alpha’s own irritation.

Naruto took a deep breath, hand flashing as he launched even more clones into the fray, hoping to confuse Kakashi into making a mistake at the very least. He flashed a hand sign to Sakura, watching her nod determinedly from her hiding spot. Naruto flew at Kakashi, adding his own brawling to that of his clones. Sakura darted forward again, bomb at the ready – then yipped in alarm when Kakashi materialized in front of her.

Their sensei caught her by the wrist, grinning cheerfully. “The same move over and over is rather predictable, isn’t it? Sakura-chan?”

Sakura stared up at him, pale and terrified, before her eyes abruptly narrowed. She squeezed the bomb in her hand tightly and Naruto winced, knowing exactly what kind that one was. It exploded, filling the air with a sharp and blinding light. He heard Sakura’s whine of pain, her hand undoubtedly burnt, but Naruto was already reacting. He sprinted forward kunai at the ready, Sasuke at his side.

They tried to catch Kakashi with a pincher move, but the Alpha was already gone. They spun together, putting a panting Sakura to their backs. The girl was holding her burnt hand open, chest heaving.

“You okay?” Naruto asked, voice quiet as his eyes darted around the tree line. He couldn’t find the bastard, but he could _feel_ the weight of his creepy eye on them.

“I’m okay.” Her voice was pained though, and Naruto exchanged a look with Sasuke.

“Should we?”

“Yeah.”

Naruto swung around, lifting a surprised Sakura over his shoulder and sprinting into the bushes, Sasuke guarding their retreat. He took them deep into the bush, finding a thicket of thorny bushes and carefully cut a path inside. He crawled in, before turning around and pulling Sakura in after him. Sasuke shifted in front of the opening, katana even and ready.

“That was so cool, Sakura-chan.” Naruto gushed, even as he was already pulling out the field med kit from his waist band. “You seriously caught Kaka-sensei off guard. He totally thought you were gonna cry or something!”

Sakura stared at him for a moment, her shoulders still heaving. Then she gave him a weak smile. “Yeah. I didn’t cry.”

“Teach him to write you off just 'cause you’re the girl of the group.” Naruto agreed with a grin. He ripped open the burn cream, smearing it over her reddened palm before quickly pressing a square gauze over it. He wrapped it quickly, one ear on their surroundings. “There, that’ll take care of it for now. We’ll get it looked at later, yeah?”

“How do you know how to do this?”

Naruto glanced up at the girl, brows furrowed. “We covered basic first aid like every year, twice a year at school.”

Sakura blushed faintly. “I know that! I just didn’t think you ever paid attention.”

“Sakura-chan,” Naruto said slowly, voice incredulous, “I live with our teacher. Do you really think I could have gotten by a single grade if I didn’t listen? Come on, you ready? We gotta get back out there before he finds us. Kaka-sensei gotta nose like a blood hound.”

Sakura stared at him for a moment. “I was thinking…” Naruto cocked his head to the side. The girl’s eyes narrowed. “You said he underestimates me, right?”

* * *

Naruto bit his lip, exchanging a glance with Sasuke. “…you think this is gonna work?”

“It will, if you stop talking about it.” Sasuke muttered back, voice quiet. Naruto winced but nodded, digging deeper into the dirt.

They’d covered themselves completely with the rotting leaves of the forest floor. It smelled disgusting; not just the decaying leaves, but the dirt also carried the blood and even some of the scents of the other ninja’s that had used the training field in the last day or so. And this close to the river, there was a distinct watery-scummy smell to it. It would do well to cover their scents, though.

Sasuke was already pretty prepared for camouflage with his dark hair and clan clothes, but Naruto hadn’t thought to wear anything to cover his hair so he’d had to let Sasuke cover it with handfuls of dirt and leaves. He was glad he’d listen to his friend and forgone his usual orange jacket. Iruka and Kakashi had been trying to get rid of it for years and he only got to keep it when he’d promised them that he’d only wear it in village. That left him in an old grey t-shirt that used to belong to his Uncle Tenzō and a pair of ratty black pants that may or may not have been Iruka’s at some point.

In contrast, Sakura stood out like a beacon in her red dress and bright pink hair. Naruto winced; if he’d really been thinking right, they would have warned Sakura to dress in something drabber. It didn’t matter though; they _wanted_ Sakura to catch attention. As they watched, their third member carefully crept out of the wood line, looking nervously about her. She clutched her burnt and uncovered hand to her chest, face scrunched up in pain.

After a moment, Sakura slunk to the riverside. She glanced wearily around her once more before dropping to her knees. She let out a sniffle, her expression growing teary (and _wow,_ Sakura was a good actor, who knew?) as she dipped her swollen and red hand into the water. She hissed under her breath before letting out a sad sounding sob and Naruto furrowed his brows in concern, hands twitching. Sasuke’s hand covered his own, squeezing it harshly, and when he met the Alpha’s eyes there was distinct warning in them. Naruto huffed, but flattened himself further into the refuse. Judge all he wanted - Naruto made those flash bombs - he knew that even if she was acting it up, Sakura’s hand had to hurt.

And then – there.

Like some porn reading, vengeful ninja god of old, Kakashi was moving soundlessly out of the woods. He flipped a page in his book, looking utterly disinterested, before crouching down next to the girl. Naruto saw his shoulders rise up as he took a big breath, leaning directly over Sakura’s shoulder, and then; “Boo.”

Sakura leapt up as if in fright, but turned abruptly, shoving a stink bomb directly into the Jōnin’s mask. Kakashi darted backwards, but Sasuke was there to meet him, sword lashing out. He twisted to the right, dodging both Sasuke and Sakura’s kunai strike. Naruto met him, dog piling with a handful of clones and pushing the Alpha instructor into the water. Naruto clung tightly, trying to weigh the Jōnin down as his clones hastily made a grab for the bells. Only to be launched out of the water, his clones popping loudly besides him, as the river twisted and turned into a giant dragon. Naruto let out a groan, feeling his breakfast come back up as he impacted the back of a tree roughly, and looked up just in time to see Sakura and Sasuke swept violently away before the surging water flooded over his head.

When it receded, Naruto let out a pained groan, glaring at the sight of Kakashi standing – perfectly dry – atop the river.

“Oh what the–” The Omega hissed, before rolling onto his back, chest heaving. “That’s it. I call it. I’m done.” There was an amiable sounding moan from where Sasuke was stuck in the boughs of a nearby tree, one shoulder twisted unnaturally.

“Oi, Sasuke! You okay?” Another disgruntled sound as Sasuke struggled to pull himself free. “Sakura-chan?” 

“I-I’m done.” Sakura said meekly, her entire body covered in mud, choking out water between harsh coughs. “I think I broke my hand.”

Naruto winced, rolling onto his knees and stumbling over to the girl. He blanched at the sight of her mangled hand. “Oh man, yeah.”

“What’s this?” Kakashi asked, voice mild. “Giving up already?”

“You!” Naruto started, pointing a finger angrily at him before slumping in defeat. “You know what, yeah. We are.”

“You know that means one of you will have to go back.”

Sasuke snorted inelegantly as he wobbly made his way over to them, dropping into a heavy sit. “Yeah, right; Genin teams always consist of three members and there was an even number of graduates this year.”

Kakashi tisked. “Then I guess that means you all fail.”

Naruto let out a choking growl. “Kaka-sensei! You know that’s not fair, I think we did pretty good considering you’re _you!”_

“We did well.” Sasuke agreed, glaring at the older Alpha. “Especially against a Jōnin of your caliber. Especially considering we’ve never really worked with Sakura-chan before.”

“Yeah!” Naruto agreed hotly. “We did really good for our first team up. You wanna send us back, well fine. We did the best we could.”

Besides him, Sakura nodded slowly, her hand cradled to her chest. “I-I agree. We did our best.”

Kakashi stared at them for a moment, before sighing. He flipped the book close, slipping it into flack vest pocket. Naruto felt his shoulders relaxing; he recognized that posture. “Mah, fine. You three pass.”

Sakura perked up, eyes bright. “Really?”

Naruto let out a whoop, punching the air. “Yes, I knew it we could do it!”

Even Sasuke let out a more cheerful sounding grunt then he usually did. Kakashi waved their enthusiasm away. “Sasuke, don’t move. I need to pop your shoulder back in place. You, too, Sakura. Sit still until I can look at you.”

Naruto winced at the wet-popping sound of Sasuke’s shoulder snapping back into place, the young Alpha letting out a woosh of breath through his nose. Kakashi crouched down next to Sakura, brows furrowing in concern as he carefully pulled her hand out.

“You’ll need to stop by the hospital, Sakura. I’ll take you. Boys, head home. I’ll see you there.”

Naruto nodded, grinning sunnily as he helped pull Sasuke to his feet – and was instantly punched when he grabbed his friend’s sore arm. He let out a yelp, rubbing at his head. “Sorry, sorry!”

“Idiot.” Sasuke seethed, “pay more attention.”

“I said I was sorry!”

* * *

“Ni! Sa’ke!” A happy squeal greeted them when they stepped into the house and Naruto laughed, leaning down to catch the silver missile that launched itself at them. He swung Kaito up, the little boy screeching happily. “Hi!”

“Hey, Kaito-chan!” He carefully set the toddler back on his feet. “We can’t give you a hug right now because we’re smelly.”

“I’ll say.” Iruka greeted, a thin smile on his face. “Kakashi really gave you guys a work out, huh?”

“He sure did, but we passed!” Naruto flashed his oma a victory sign, grinning so hard it hurt.

Iruka’s frame immediately loosened, his own smile huge. “I never had any doubts with you three.”

“He read porn the whole time.” Sasuke announced abruptly. Naruto gawked at his friend; he must be feeling salty about all the mud and river algae if he was ratting out Kakashi so easily. Iruka’s expression froze, his left eye twitching. Sasuke met Naruto’s oma’s stare with a flat one of his own. _“The_ _whole_ _time.”_

Naruto chuckled nervously. “And I’m gonna take a bath. You wanna take one with me, Kaito-chan?”

“Yeah! Bath time!”

“That’s right, my little guy. And we can even use the cool stuff that changes the water color!”

“Like you weren’t going to use it anyway.” Sasuke muttered under his breath, nose wrinkling as he pulled his destroyed t-shirt off. “Iruka-sensei, is it alright if I use your shower?”

“Of course, go ahead.” The older Omega said cheerfully, already disappearing into the kitchen. “I’m almost finished with dinner. I made a lot of filling stuff, I figured you guys would be hungry.”

“You passed?” Miwa asked, her head popping up from the couch, leaning on the back. “That’s surprising. Daddy must be slipping.”

Sasuke clicked his tongue, his hand darting out and launching his wet t-shirt at Miwa’s face with unerring accuracy. The little Alpha shrieked, tumbling back onto the couch, legs wind milling angrily.

Iruka snorted, shaking his head. “That’ll be war, you know.”

Sasuke bared his teeth as he stalked down the hallway. “Bring it.”

Naruto chortled, bumping the couch with just enough force to send the screeching girl tumbling to the ground. “That’s what you get for being a brat, brat-hime.”

“I’m not a brat!” Miwa screamed, launching herself up and over the couch only to be caught mid-air by Iruka.

“Miwa-chan, no. No rough housing when someone is carrying your brother.”

The silver haired Alpha seethed on their oma’s hip, jerking her fingers from her eyes to Naruto, before dragging her thumb across her neck. Naruto stuck his tongue out, flipping her the bird before disappearing into the bathroom.

“Alright, Kaito-chan.” Naruto said seriously, setting the boy down on the toilet seat before holding the bath pellet container up. “Real talk. Orange or blue?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys liked it. I always hate writing action scenes, I'm worried about how they come through. And I hope Sakura is already making herself a little more useful then in the first season, but still in character for who she is. I struggled a bit with how to show Team 7 with the new dynamic of Papa!Kakashi, so let me know if it's working!


	5. Secrets, Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I live!!!!!

The house was overly warm with so many bodies in it, even with the ceiling fan and AC on, but Fū wouldn’t have it any other way. She was tucked away in what had come to be called Torune’s Corner. Torune always felt a little overwhelmed in a crowd, the Omega hyper aware of how close he was to other people at all time, and always did just a little better with some space.

So they’d taken to sitting in the corner closest to the sliding door that lead to the yard, just to give the Aburame some breathing room. It had only taken a few days of that before Fū had found a pile of pillows and zabutons there, more than enough to make it a comfortable little nest. Torune liked to sit pressed against the wall, which gave him a perfect angle to see the whole room and feel a part of the hustle and bustle of the Hatake family home but be somewhat apart from it. And when Fū sat next to him she could be an extra buffer to the world, a role she hardly minded, as it meant the greenette Alpha got to snuggle her beau more often than not.

He was never going to be a social butterfly (heh, bug jokes) but Torune had really opened up, at least to the Hatake.

Fū felt her lips quirk as the Omega’s head shifted against her shoulder, gloved fingers carefully turning a page in the adventure novel he was reading. Fū turned into the move, letting her chin drag affectionately against the crown of his head.

“You okay?”

“Ah.”

“Okay,” Fū agreed easily; she trusted Torune to tell her if he needed to step out for a few minutes.

Across from them, gathered around the kotatsu Naruto, Sasuke, and Kiba sat. Kaito was standing in front of the TV, bare in the heat save for his pull ups, staring open mouthed at the cartoon show that was on, one hand twisted tightly into Itachi’s giant war dog’s fur. Taichi – tolerant in a way he only ever was with children and puppies – was looking slightly aggrieved but resigned. His misery was only added to with the way that Kiba’s pup, Akamaru, was desperately trying to entice him into play. Miwa was curled up against Itachi, the older Omega grading absent mindedly.

Fū grinned.

She loved these days best; being home with her family. She could vaguely hear Iruka humming to himself from the kitchen and the smell of curry filled the house. Footsteps (just loud enough to hear, Kakashi was always polite like that despite whatever front he may show out in the village) made their way down the hallway. Their pack Alpha appeared, toweling his hair off, eyebrows rising somewhat as he took in the scene.

“Bookwork? Who are you, and where is Naruto?”

Sasuke, who was busy knitting an orange scarf (a dark orange, as muted for the color as it could get – Sasuke’s only concession when he agreed to make one for Naruto), snorted. Naruto sent him an affronted look, before tossing his pencil down, pointing at the worksheet in front of him with both hands. “It’s homework! Can you believe this? Kaka-ni, _I’m not even in his class anymore!_ This is – this _abuse,_ an abuse of authority and I can’t believe you’re all just so–”

“What did you do?”

“What? Nothing!”

Kakashi gave the boy a disbelieving look. “Uh huh.”

Fū hid her giggle in Torune’s hood, keeping one eye clear enough to watch the spectacle.

“He pranked that grocer on Maple,” Sasuke said without missing a stitch. The young Alpha had been knitting since he’d started therapy, something about helping with his anxiety, and he’d become pretty proficient at it. “You know, the one that keeps splashing him with water.”

“You little – lies!” Naruto sputtered, “lies, show me the _proof,_ you ba – jerk!”

“You can curse if you want.” Miwa said sleepily, “I know what that word was.”

“No, he can’t!” Iruka shouted from the kitchen, at the same time Kakashi sent his daughter a bone-dry look.

“I mean,” Kiba said, blowing a breath out, looking bored and put out from where his head was resting on his crossed arms, “you could just stop going that way. He does it every time he sees you. And, I mean, if you wanted to be subtle maybe don’t tag _‘the future Hokage strikes again’_ next time.”

“Traitors.” Naruto breathed, stunned, “I’m surrounded by _dirty traitors.”_

“My,” Itachi hummed, crossing out an answer with a vicious stroke of his pen, “everyone is so spirited today.”

“That’s one way to put it.” Kakashi agreed with a snort, letting the towel rest around his shoulders, mumbling something that sounded suspiciously like _‘madhouse.’_

“Come on, Naruto,” Kiba whined, the sound animal enough that it made both Taichi _and_ Kakashi twitch. Fū sniggered, eyes bright. This was why she liked the Inuzuka brat, some of the sounds he made sent Kakashi into a tizzy. Though completely different from the Inuzuka, the Hatake had enough canine in them from their decades long contract with the nin-dogs to make for some really amusing reactions.

Sure enough –

“If you’re so bored, go run off that energy.” Kakashi said, ducking down to dig a thumb behind the elastic waist of Kaito’s diaper and pulled it back before making a face.

“What – I don’t want to go alone.” Kiba barked, eyes wide at the very thought alone. “Sasuke–”

“No.”

Kiba pouted, hands flailing out over the tabletop in dismay. So much drama, Fū loved it. A sly look flashed across the Beta boy’s face. He swung around, grabbing the stuffed shinobi doll from Miwa’s hand.

“Hey!” The girl squealed, eyes wide, “give that back!”

Kiba danced out of the way of her grasping hands, a smug look on his face. “Make me, brat-hime.”

Miwa was up like a shot, snarling as she tore outside after the cackling boy. Kakashi just sighed as he pulled Kaito up into his arms, the toddler instantly disgruntled and upset. “Make sure they don’t leave the compound, Itachi.”

“Of course, Kakashi-san.” Itachi acknowledged politely. “Taichi, please ensure the children don’t leave the compound.”

Taichi shot his partner an irritated look before climbing to his feet and disappearing out the door, Akamaru trotting behind him. “It’s too hot for this shit.”

Kakashi shook his head before folding down into a sit, nose crinkling. He pulled a bag from where it was nestled next to the TV, pinning a complaining Kaito down by the chest as he started on a diaper change.

“What are you writing anyway?” The Alpha asked, catching a waving hand between his masked lips and biting lightly. Kaito stared up at him in awe, before his chubby face split in a smile.

“An essay on the Hokages.” Naruto grumbled, looking aggrieved. “Sasuke, take a look?”

“What will you give me?”

“A beating if you don’t.” The Omega growled and then when that failed to stir up his friend, blue eyes narrowed threateningly. “I’ll leave you to Sakura-chan tomorrow.”

The knitting needles paused. “Fine. Book first, gotta check a date.”

“Ha!” Naruto crowed, all but throwing the book at Sasuke’s face. “Even Mr. Perfect doesn’t remember everything.”

“Of course I don’t, moron.” Sasuke grumbled, flicking through the pages. He paused momentarily, staring at the page before his eyes flickered up to look at Naruto, then back to the page again. “Weird.”

“What?” Naruto snapped, irritated, “don’t tell me I messed up already, I _know_ I doubled checked, okay! I did!”

“No,” Sasuke said, brows furrowed, "it is just – well. You look like the Yondaime, don’t you think? I mean, you didn’t before, but…”

And it was only because Fū was tucked away with Torune, positioned out of her boyfriend’s paranoia, that she saw the way Kakashi’s hand hesitated for a split second before pulling a baby wipe free, or the way that Itachi’s pen hovered abruptly over his grading.

“Huh.” Naruto said, slowly, lips tucking down with a frown. He crawled over on his knees, settling between Sasuke’s legs to peer at the history book. “Huh. That is weird. I mean, kinda I guess?”

Fū’s eyes flickered around the room, taking in Kakashi as he efficiently changed Kaito’s diaper, the deceptively loose way that Itachi was grading his paper, to where Iruka – standing frozen in the kitchen doorway with a tray of iced tea, eyes narrowed — was staring at Kakashi’s back.

 _Huh._ Fū thought, swallowing around a suddenly dry throat. _Oh, wow. Wow._

And then, Naruto sat back on his heels. “Well, you don’t see a lot of blonds in Leaf. That’s probably why.”

Sasuke looked at him flatly. “Yamanaka.”

Her little brother pinched his thigh brutally. “Not what I mean, jerk. Name me ten that aren’t Yamanaka. Jeez. Give me that back if you aren’t gonna help, I still got like five pages to write.”

And just like that, the careful tension that was so _carefully not there,_ was gone.

“Your family is odd.” Torune offered, voice a soft whisper.

“Yeah, they are.”

“I like it.”

Fū grinned, bringing Torune’s hand up to kiss his palm, grin growing wider and slightly more roguish at the bright blush it brought to his cheeks. “Yeah, me too.”

* * *

Later that night, Fū stopped Kakashi on the way to bed.

“You should tell him.” She warned, meeting the Alpha’s gaze straight on. “I mean it. Not just about…that. But the other thing, too. Probably before he leaves the village for the first time."

“Ma, Fū-chan. It’s a little late for such heavy topics, don’t you think?”

She shook her head, knocking her shoulder against his affectionately. “If I can see it – even Iruka-ni can see it now – so can everyone else. We’re not even from here.”

She left the Alpha there, the weight of his eyes like a brand on her skin.

* * *

Naruto knew something was up the moment he entered the house. He slowed to a stop, hands lowering from where they’d been clasped behind his head. He eyed the entryway wearily, listening to the weirdly quite house. After a moment, he slipped his sandals off and pushed his feet into his slippers.

“I’m home.”

“Welcome home.” Iruka greeted, and he sounded…odd.

Naruto licked his lips. He was sweaty and gross from a day full of D-ranks, of which most Kakashi had been absent from. He’d thought it been because his adopted father was just being his usual lazy self, but Naruto began to wonder if it was something else as he stepped into the living room. Something twisted in his stomach at the sight of Iruka sitting nervously on the couch, his expression just a shy of too open and supportive to do anything but set off every one of Naruto’s internal alarms. Even more upsetting, Kakashi was sitting motionlessly on the opposite couch, staring mutely at the ground.

Okay.

Okay, this was going to be one of those talks. Had he done anything lately? Naruto wracked his brain, trying to figure out anything. There’d been that thing with Anko, but that was funny for everyone. Not enough to earn _that_ face, nor to – oh man, the house was _empty._ Where was everyone else? His eyes darted to the sliding door, mouth pressing into a thin line as he took in the sight of the equally dark second house.

Shibuki’s then.

“…you guys okay?” Naruto asked slowly, cautiously.

Iruka gave him a weak smile. “Yes. We’re – everything’s fine. Come sit, please. Kakashi and I wanted to talk to you about something.”

Okay, those alarms? Blaring now, full own klaxons, village-invasion. Naruto made his way around the couch, eyes darting to Kakashi (who wasn’t looking at him, _why wasn’t he looking at him)_ before coming to a stop in front of his oma. Iruka patted the seat next to him invitingly, but Naruto didn’t move.

“What’s going on?”

Iruka stared at him, hand stilling. His tongue darted out, wetting his lips. “Naruto-kun, first I want you to know that we love you, more than anything. We – both Kakashi and I – we consider you a son, even if we never formally adopted you.”

Naruto’s panic jack knifed, his stomach dropping out. “I…know.”

Iruka gave him another weak smile. “I just wanted to be sure.”

His eyes darted from his oma to Kakashi, then back, then over again. “Kaka-ni, why won’t you look at me?”

Kakashi startled, eyes snapping up to look at him like he wasn’t even aware Naruto was in the room. The blond took a step back, thoroughly rattled by the look in the man’s eyes. For as long as he’d known him, Kakashi had been unflappable. Even after the massacre, even after Kaito had been kidnapped, Naruto had never seen the Alpha anything but collected, in control.

This was not the same man.

Something old and fragile and _hurt_ stared out at him from Kakashi’s eye. Naruto made a choked sound, faltering back another step. “What’s going on? Stop it, you’re really starting to scare me!”

“Naruto-kun, baby,” Naruto’s eyes darted back to Iruka. Iruka _never_ called him baby anymore, not since he’d made Genin. What was going on? “I’m sorry, we’re not trying to scare you.” His oma let out a huff of breath, “we’re going about this all wrong. Look, please, just sit for a moment and I–”

“I’ll stand.” Naruto said quickly, even though he didn’t know why he did. All he knew was that his heart felt like it was going to beat right out of his chest.

“Okay. That’s fine too.” Iruka agreed easily. “What we’re about to tell you, it’s a SS-class secret. You can never repeat to anyone, not even Sasuke-kun. Do you understand me, Naru-kun? You could get someone killed if you repeat this.”

Naruto stared blankly at him before nodding woodenly.

Was this…was this about his parents? Gods, they really _had_ been traitors and –

“Good, I knew that you would.” Iruka’s hands curled into his pants. “You know that I’m not originally from here, right? That Shibuki-kun and Fū-chan and I all came from Waterfall?” Another stiff nod. “Well…when we came here, you were entrusted into my care for a reason. You see, Naruto-kun, the night the Kyūbi attacked the village –”

What?

“– the Yondaime did something to make it stop. He sealed it in a newborn baby –”

Naruto’s –

Naruto’s _birthday_ was –

“ – one that had been born during the attack –”

His birthday was October tenth, the same day –

“ – the Yondaime wanted the baby to be treated as a hero, he wanted entire village to appreciate his sacrifice –”

His.

_His._

“ – because the baby would be the jailor of the nine-tailed fox. But, well…a Chūnin by the name of Tachibana Akimitsu broke classification. She was executed, but the damage was done. The entire village knew the baby’s name and his status as a jinchūriki.”

Iruka looked lost.

Naruto had never seen Iruka look lost before.

“And the village didn’t understand, they were afraid and small-minded, and they…were cruel to the baby.”

To…To him.

Because that was what this was about, wasn’t it? Naruto was _–_

“But the most important thing is that the baby isn’t the Kyūbi. He’s a hero, just like the Yondaime wanted. He’s –”

“Me.” The word was a whisper and Naruto hadn’t even realized it came from him until it had left his lips.

Iruka nodded.

Naruto felt frozen in place, unable to move, to breathe – until, all at once, he could.

Iruka called after him, leaping to his feet even as Kakashi was darting across living room. But for once in his life Naruto was _faster,_ and he disappeared into the darkness of the night.

* * *

Despite what so many said about him, Naruto was a master prankster. He couldn’t count the times that the Uchiha or the Hyūga – hell, even the ANBU – had tried to track him down after a prank. When he wanted to, Naruto knew how to disappear. He was hidden in one of the rarely used training grounds on the edge of the village, wedged into the hollow at the base of an ancient tree, arms wrapped tightly around his legs, face burrowed into his knees.

He was a jinchūriki. Of the Kyūbi. No wonder they all hated him. Naruto let out a choked sob, clutching himself even harder. How could Kakashi even stand to be near him? He wasn’t dumb, he really wasn’t. He knew how to read a room, saw the way Kakashi got whenever his teacher was mentioned, the haunted look in his eyes whenever anyone talked about the Yondaime. Iruka had explained to him once that Kakashi’s entire Genin team had died not long after Grandpa Sakumo had…left…and to lose his teacher so soon after?

How could he go back?

Naruto lifted his head just enough to stare at his hands. The skin was tan, completely free of any blemishes. He never got sick. He always healed so quickly after an injury. He was stupid! How many times had the villagers all but told him? Sure they never called him the Kyūbi, or demon or anything like that, but there was a reason Naruto never celebrated his birthday anywhere but home, why he never went to the Remembrance Festival on the tenth. How could he, when Naruto was the very thing they were trying to forget?

So many people had died that night.

The crack of dried leaves had his head jerking up and Naruto tucked himself further back into his hollow as they approached. Dark ninja pants came into view, pale skin peaking out from dark sandals. A quartet of fury feet.

Itachi.

The eldest Uchiha crouched down, his sightless eyes locking on his form for all his blindness.

“Oy, Kakashi. We found him.” Taichi announced, sitting down abruptly as Naruto tensed, his stocky body blocking his only escape route. Kakashi, Naruto’s chest began to heave, he couldn’t – he couldn’t face him, how could he face him when his he’d killed the only person he loved and how could he – he needed to leave, just let him leave, he needed to –

“Naruto-kun.” Itachi soothed, Omega pheromones flaring out about him like a comforting blanket, and it wasn’t until then that Naruto realized he’d been saying the words aloud. “Kakashi-san isn’t angry with you.”

There was a thud of impact, standard Jōnin blues landing abruptly next to Itachi’s form. The Omega pivoted quickly out of the way and suddenly Kakashi was there, eyes – both eyes – wide.

“Naruto.” Kakashi breathed, reaching out for him and Naruto flinched away. The hands paused, Kakashi’s face going completely blank and _no,_ that wasn’t he meant.

“I don’t want to hurt you.” He managed to choke out, curling further into himself, hiding his face again. “You should have just let me die.”

Hands were suddenly yanking him from his hidey hole and Naruto had one brief, fervent moment of all-encompassing terror, before long arms were suddenly looped around him, holding him tight.

“Never say that again.” Kakashi growled out and Naruto pushed against the Alpha’s chest, eyes bleary from tears, but there was no give to be found.

“Kakashi-ni, don’t, what if I –”

“Naruto,” Kakashi interrupted, gloved finger carding up into the hair at the nape of his neck, “Naruto, you won’t hurt me.”

“But – what if –”

“Do you want to hurt me?”

“No!”

“Then you won’t.” A nose was suddenly burrowing into his hair, scenting deeply. “You won’t, Naruto.”

Naruto shuddered. “You don’t know that.”

“No, I don’t.” Kakashi agreed, shocking him into silence. The Alpha pulled back, watching him intently. “But you do. Do you want to hurt me, Naruto?”

“No.” Naruto whispered, fingers curling tightly into the Jōnin’s shirt. “Never you, Kaka-ni. You’re…you’re my dad. I…I love you.”

Something complicated flashed across Kakashi’s face, barely a flicker before it was gone. “You didn’t choose to be a jinchūriki, no more than Itachi or Sasuke chose to be Uchiha, or Shibuki the guardian of the God Tree. Things happen to us in life, sometimes even before we’re born, that we have to live with for our entire lives.

Life is deeply unfair sometimes, Naruto. No one gets the privilege of choosing how they’re born into this world, or the things that happen to us before we can defend ourselves. You are not responsible for the Kyūbi’s actions. The only thing you can control is how you act know that you know. You are not the fox, you are only it’s jailor.”

Naruto stared intently at the Alpha, searching his face for any sign of a lie, or distrust or maliciousness – or anything, really. But Kakashi met his stare head on, resolutely, unflinchingly.

Something in him relaxed minutely. Suddenly exhausted, the Omega let his head fall onto his adopted sire’s shoulder. “…is Iruka-ni-san mad I ran away?”

“No,” Kakashi huffed with a laugh, shifting his grip as he stood, “but you may have scared a few years off him.” Kakashi was silent for a moment, his large a hand a welcome weight on Naruto’s back. “I’m sorry, Naruto. We could have handled that better.”

Naruto just shook his head, too tired to even process that. “…can we go home?”

“Of course.”

* * *

That night, Iruka tucked Naruto for the first time in months. Fū was waiting by his bedroom door when he arrived, expression determined, but Kakashi had taken her by the shoulder and guided her away.

“We have more to talk about in the morning, Naruto-kun,” Iruka said gently as he smoothed the blankets over him, “but it can wait. You don’t have training tomorrow, so I want you to sleep in as long as you want. Kakashi and I will both be here in the morning, just…” Iruka faltered, “please don’t run away again.”

“Okay,” Naruto agreed, voice small, “I’m sorry.”

Iruka leaned down, pressing a kiss to his forehead before nuzzling him, scenting him like he was Miwa or Kaito and not a fully grown Genin. “I know you are. It was a lot to take in, I know. Good night, Naruto-kun.”

“Goodnight, ni-san.”

The lights flickered off in his room, but Naruto didn’t fall asleep. He stared up at the ceiling, mind blank. A half hour after Iruka had left, his door slid open and then closed. Naruto shut his eyes, recognizing the tread even before Sasuke’s dark head appeared by his bedside.

“Naruto?” He rolled onto his side, away from the Alpha. He didn’t want to talk, he _couldn’t_ talk, Naruto remembered all at once, and hid his face in his pillow so his friend couldn’t see him. He didn’t know if he wanted to tell Sasuke just yet, but the idea that he couldn’t tell his best friend felt like another blow he didn’t have strength for.

“I can’t tell you.”

“Bullshit.”

“Sasuke, please.”

There was a stretch of startled silence and then Sasuke was sliding beneath his covers. An arm bullied its way beneath his side and the mattress, the other wrapping tightly across his waist. He was pulled back against Sasuke’s thin chest, a nose pressed behind the sloping curve of his ear.

“What did they say to you?”

He sounded upset. Naruto squeezed his eyes harder, a hand curling around the loose fabric of Sasuke’s sleep shirt and shook his head. There was a huff of breath against his ear, ghosting down his neck and collar bone in a way that made his skin prickle.

And then, with Sasuke curled around him like one of Kakashi’s nin-dogs, Naruto slept.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writer's blocks gone, yo. Did you guys enjoy the chapter? Hope it wasn't over the top and people were IC. Protective Sasuke is Protective. Also, Kakashi, you are this kid's dad. Accept it.


End file.
